Gillyflower, Heliotrope and Hemlock
by rosa suscipit
Summary: Three boys must travel forward in time, from the year 1980 to the year 2000. They have a mission, but they don't yet realise what it is that can prevent a future they died for from being destroyed. Slash; HP/SB. M for later sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Gillyflower - Bonds of affection, Heliotrope - Devotion; eternal love; faithfulness, Hemlock - You will be my death. The names of the plants represent each of the Marauders (Discounting Peter who's generally a dick, lol.) Gillyflower is Remus, Heliotrope is Sirius and Hemlock is for James (Because of his death. Hope you enjoy this fic, my second Sirius/Harry fic as my other one is on another profile (Kimmimaru). Enjoy and please, please R&R. Thank you. :)

Gillyflower, Heliotrope and Hemlock.

"I'd tear the stars out of the midday sky"

**Prologue**

The room was quiet, the portraits upon the walls snoring softly as the midday sun streamed through the windows of the tower. The strange curios that rested upon the tables were still and the only sounds drifted in through the window, there was no breeze to cool the room so it was as warm as an oven, yet the air was heavy as if a storm was brewing in the confines of the round walls.

Phineas Nigellus yawned and stretched, he blinked around sure that something had woken him, but unable to see anything. The other headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were still snoozing, apparently unaware that anything was strange. The portraits small dark eyes moved to the painting that was hung directly behind the headmasters seat, he blinked when he saw that the figure inside was awake and gazing at the centre of the room.

"I say, Dumbledore, what is...?"

"Shh." Dumbledore put a finger to his lips and smiled.

Phineas turned to gaze at the spot on the carpet that seemed to have Dumbledore so entranced, but still there was nothing there, but the room seemed to become full of some kind of inexplicable buzzing noise, it throbbed through the air, and became an almost physical weight that pressed in on the eyeballs, even if you were a painting. In the very centre of the room something began to glow, the golden light spread outwards slowly, encasing the desk and obliterating all of the odds and ends upon it, it swelled and pulsed, an odd crackling noise emanating from its centre and then-

BANG!

All the portraits woke with cries of shock, but Dumbledore smiled down at the carpet still.

"Well...that was awfully uncomfortable."

"Oh shut up, this was your idea."

"So, where are we?"

Phineas gaped, in the centre of the room were three boys, all in their late teens and wearing matching t-shirts with golden phoenix's emblazoned across their chests. All three of them were covered in dust, bruises and scratches, their hair was messy and they appeared out of breath.

"This is..."

"...Dumbledore's office! We're at Hogwarts!"

"You mean...?"

"It worked!"

The boys gazed around with awed faces until one of them stumbled and fell to his knees, he buried his face in his hands and the other two sat at his side, placing comforting hands on him. "It's alright, we're safe now."

"S-Safe? Everyone's dead! Everyone..." The boy shuddered and pulled his hands from his face, the portraits all gasped as they saw crimson staining them. "We...we couldn't save them..." He whispered.

"No...we were given this task, we had to save ourselves."

One of the teens stood up and turned a steely gaze on the portrait of Dumbledore. "We're here on your orders...we left while everyone else was being slaughtered. Tell us what you want us to do."

The other two looked up from where they sat on their knees, Dumbledore smiled. "Well done, boys. I welcome you to the year 2000."

The three boys looked at each other with wide eyes. "Wow..." One of them breathed.

"Fancy that, the Marauders in the year 2000...that's pretty cool."

XXXHPXXXHPXXX

Harry sighed heavily and rubbed at his eyes beneath his glasses, he frowned down at the pile of paper work on his desk and almost swore out loud. After a moment he shook his head and resigned himself to being bored stiff for the next few hours, he sat down and picked up his quill. He reached for the first peice of parchment awaiting his signature but felt something watching him, he looked up and saw Hermione standing in the doorway with two cups and a smile.

"I heard you were working late, here...I come bearing coffee."

"Brilliant! I love you Hermione..." He sighed and took the mug from her hands. "What are you doing here, I thought you were at home with Ron?"

"Oh...well, I had to catch up on some work. Never mind me..." She sat at his side and looked at him sternly, her eyes scanning his face carefully. "How are you feeling Harry?"

Harry's hand jumped to the scar on his forehead before he realised what she meant, he looked away with a frown. "Fine."

"Don't lie, I know that look. Ginny wrote to me yesterday asking if I could go and get her stuff, I..."

"She's welcome to it." Harry snapped, waving his hand vaguely and glaring down at his paper work, for a junior Auror he seemed to be doing more paper work than actual catching of dark wizards, but so long as it kept his mind busy and away from his disastrous break up with Ginny then he could live with the tedium.

Hermione sighed. "You know you could sort this all out if you would just speak to each other."

"I'm not talking to her until she apologises!" Harry hissed, drinking his coffee and burning his throat.

"She won't apologise until you do."

"I haven't done anything wrong, Hermione! She was the one I found with Dean Thomas that day, they were..." He winced at the memory. "I never would have expected it of her."

"And have you ever wondered what drove her to it?" Hermione asked slowly, watching him carefully.

Harry averted his gaze. "What I do in my private life Hermione, is none of your business."

"Oh really? So when Ginny comes around my house to complain about why you won't touch her, I am supposed to ignore it? Come on Harry, you're being ridiculous."

"Look...it's over...I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright." Hermione sighed and rummaged around in her handbag, which looked very odd against her long pale grey witches robes. "Here, I received this from Professor McGonagall."

Harry took the letter and frowned down at the writing, he slit open the parchment and read it. "She wants me to come to the school..."

"Why?" Hermione frowned.

Harry shrugged and folded up the letter, putting it into his pocket and standing up. "Well, she reckons it's urgent so I'd better go." He finished his drink and handed the mug back to his best friend. "I'll see you this weekend then, if you're still going to invite me for dinner that is?"

"Of course, but Ron is in a strange mood...it's all this stuff with Ginny I think, he doesn't know who to side with." Hermione grimaced and kissed Harry on the cheek. "If you really don't want to get back with Ginny, please find someone to make you happy Harry, you, more than anyone, deserve it."

Harry smiled. "Of course I will, just...not yet."

"I understand."

"And don't overwork yourself!" Hermione called as he strode past her, he turned and waved lazily over his shoulder before stepping out of the Auror offices and out into the hall. He walked with a frown on his face as he considered the urgent letter from McGonagall, she had not written to him in many a month, perhaps it was something really terrible...he shivered at the thought and absently rubbed his scar as he stepped into the lift and pressed the button for the Atrium.

Hogwarts was as it always had been and probably always would be, Harry stood in the Headmistresses office and gazed at the smiling portrait of Albus Dumbledore. "How are you dear boy?" The portrait asked as they awaited the current Headmistress.

"I'm fine, sir. I'm an Auror now, would you believe?"

"I would, I would." Dumbledore's smile fell slightly as the door opened.

"And stay right there until I call you, understand?" She called over her shoulder and Harry vaguely heard a soft drone of agreement, the woman turned to face Harry and smiled. "It is good to see you Potter." She said brusquely as she sat down. "Please, sit. Drink?"

"No thanks, what's this about? Do you need a lecturer again?"

"No, no...Miss Evenstone is doing well enough as Defence teacher. No, this is...well, something has happened. Something very odd and very unexpected."

Harry raised an eyebrow curiously. "And that is?"

"Potter...I would like you to meet some people...well, you already know them...in a way." She motioned towards the door and it opened, Harry turned in his seat and what he saw made his jaw drop. He stood on weak knees and fell to the floor unconscious.

"And...that's my son?" James Potter asked with a raised eyebrow, he moved over, poking the unconscious Auror with the toe of a boot. "He fainted..."

Sirius laughed loudly. "So would you if people started to come back from the dead, mate."

"We haven't come back from the dead, Sirius, we're here for a reason." Remus said softly.

"And what might that be then?" James countered, turning on his friend.

"We'll know soon enough I suppose, for now, I think we should get him up off the floor, shall we?" Remus indicated the unconscious boy and Sirius chuckled brightly as he scooped him up and lay him on a sofa James conjured.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Yay! Another chapter. Ok, this one, being the first chapter is just an intro into their situations so its short and may be a bit boring, but the info is vital, I do apologise. Three reviews already! :O I'm shocked, but pleasantly so. Thank you all so very much, I hope you continue to enjoy my writing._

**Chapter One**

Harry woke with a groan, he blinked rapidly and found himself looking up into blurred faces.

"Is he alright?"

"He looks pale...maybe we should get him something?"

"He's fine, stop crowding him."

"Look! He's awake!"

"Ugh...wha' happened?" Harry muttered, reaching out as something cold and hard was pressed into his hand, he sat up and the faces backed off slightly as he pushed his glasses on and blinked. He found himself gazing into his own reflection...except the mirror must have been broken or under some kind of spell because the eyes looking back at him were hazel, not green. Then it clicked. He remembered watching his father, Sirius and Remus enter the Heads office. He took a shuddery breath. "Dad?" He croaked slowly, his hand reaching for what must only be some kind of cruel mirage.

James shot Sirius a look. "Well...not quite yet. When I last saw you, you were a bump in Lily's stomach and..." Suddenly his eyes filled with grief and he sighed shakily, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses. "...And Lily was dying in my arms." He croaked.

Harry frowned at that. "What? My mother was murdered by Lord Voldemort along with you when I was a baby..."

"I suppose it is time we explained." Remus said softly, he was stood behind Sirius who was crouched by the sofa gazing at Harry with obvious fascination, like dog admiring a pack-mates litter. "We're not the same people you think we are, Harry." He said softly.

"Start from the beginning Moony, you're confusing the poor lad." Sirius said, still unable to take his eyes from Harry who was beginning to feel uncomfortable under that intense stare.

"Alright..." Remus perched on a table and fell silent for a few moments before speaking. "In 1980 we were part of a group of powerful wizards set up by Albus Dumbledore called the Order of the Phoenix, our task was to help liberate the Wizarding and Muggle world from the grips of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Our numbers were small, but we were powerful enough to withstand the attacks, our original intention was to prevent the total takeover of the Dark Lord, but..."

"But we failed." James replied, messing his hair up at the back.

Remus inclined his head. "Lord Voldemort managed to take over the ministry, murdering the current minister for magic and pushing through Laws exiling Muggleborns and Bloodtraitors. The Purebloods rule over Muggles and any mixed blood Wizards, there are executions almost daily and the magical blood is dying out rapidly, some of us managed to flee and go underground where we rallied ourselves and soon became known terrorists, now we fight against the establishment to try and bring freedom to the oppressed." He sighed heavily and pushed hair from his eyes, Harry noticed that he was bruised and battered with cuts and scratches all over his face and body.

Harry frowned. "But...that never happened..."

"Hush Prongslet." Sirius said softly, "we're getting there." Harry shut his mouth on the question about the nickname and Remus continued.

"We managed well enough, constantly on the move, travelling from one place to the next, always under threat of attack and betrayal, but we kept ourselves alive. However, when our attacks on the Ministry became more frequent the Death Eaters put bounties on our heads, we became hunted, people were afraid to help us and finding food was becoming more and more difficult. One day Dumbledore pulled James, Sirius and myself aside and gave us a task..." He reached into his robes and withdrew a locket, it glowed with a soft light, Sirius and James both had theirs as well. "He gave us these, they allow us to travel between dimensions, a powerful and rare branch of magic that Dumbledore invented especially for a worst case scenario. He chose us three to use them if the worst happened...and it did not long afterwards. Voldemort's spies found us beneath the Thames in one of our hideouts, we were betrayed by Peter Pettigrew who sold us for a few Galleons and his head." Remus spat the words as if he had poison in his mouth and his face turned savage. "He opened our gates and let the bastards through all our wards, he gave us to them to save his own pathetic life! We were trapped in the tunnels beneath the river, we had been using the old sewage systems under the city to get around, but they caved them in, trapping us inside and they moved in to finish the slaughter..." Remus hung his head and closed his eyes, seemingly unable to go on.

James took up the story. "When we realised what had happened we tried to help the people, we were harbouring Muggleborns, protecting them and creating fake passports so we could get them out the country...they all died...they were ripped to shreds, blown to pieces...I can still hear their screams." He swallowed and looked at Harry. "Lily was with us, s-she was supposed to come with us but...but as we were leaving we were caught in a blast and she was trapped. I fought my way back but...but I was too late, Voldemort stood over her, she was bleeding and screaming...holding her stomach..." He shuddered and Sirius put his hand on his shoulder. "He looked at me when he killed her. He looked me right in the eye as I struggled to get rocks and debris out my way...he watched me screaming and shouting as he raised his wand..." He closed his eyes. "He killed my wife and my unborn child...they were helpless..."

Sirius sighed. "We were too late to save her, by the time we got there she was too far gone. The baby had been dragged from her womb and dashed upon the rocks, Voldemort had ordered all 'impure' children to be executed so they murdered the baby." Harry gaped, unable to help himself, the story was horrific, much worse than many of the tales he had heard or been told about Voldemort in his dimension. Sirius' eyes were dark and heavily lidded as he took his turn to speak, there was a strange glitter in them that made Harry nervous. "After Lily, Voldemort went for Dumbledore, the fight was spectacular, it was beyond anything I have ever seen before but...in the end Voldemort proved too much for our leader and Albus was killed, his body strung up in Trafalgar Square naked and bald for everyone to see what happens to bloodtraitors. We managed to escape by the skin of our teeth and with the sacrifice of many of our friends, we escaped the purge and used Dumbledore's magical pendants to come here."

"Why?" Harry breathed. "What do you want from me?"

"We don't know, Harry. Dumbledore never told us." Remus replied softly.

Harry gazed at his father and friends, they all had a disturbing haunted look in their eyes which had been conspicuously absent when he had known them, all except Sirius. That darkness was the same he had gained in Azkaban, a strange knowing gleam in those silver depths that spoke volumes of all the suffering he had been forced to endure...only now it was worse. James had dried blood coating his hands and face, his glasses were cracked and his hair still covered in dust, his t-shirt was torn and bloodied but his hands remained steady. Remus looked worse for wear, although his hair was less grey than it had been when Harry had known him and he had less laughter lines, but they were all still people he loved, whether from another dimension or not.

"We heard that in this dimension Lord Voldemort has been defeated?" Sirius asked suddenly as he appraised Harry with those pretty yet haunting eyes. "Is it true? Did you kill him?"

"I-I...well, basically, yes...but..."

"Brilliant! Then all we need to do is find out how you did it and do it in our dimension too!" James said with a satisfied smile.

"But It wasn't...I had help. I didn't do it alone, I couldn't have done it alone. I'm not special, I'm pretty average really...I don't have any special powers or anything, I'm just...me."

Sirius looked at him doubtfully. "Then how did you do it?"

"It's...complicated." Harry said with a sigh.

"There must be a reason we were sent here, Harry, and I think _you_ are that reason." Remus said with a small, sad smile. "If you tell us the story, then maybe we can go back."

"The spell holding us here will break the moment we have the right information, effectively sending us back to our own time...and the sooner the better, I hate this waiting. The faster I get my hands on that snake-freaks throat the better I'll feel." James hissed, his eyes darkening.

There was silence for a long while before Harry sighed and ran fingers through his hair. "Alright, I'll tell you what I did..." he embarked on his own tale, he explained about Horcruxes and how they worked, he told them how Voldemort had chosen him to defeat him, about his scar, about how he was the last Horcrux and to truly destroy him he had to die himself at Voldemorts own hands. When he was done James was gaping at him and Sirius looked impressed. "But I wouldn't have been able to do any of that if it weren't for my friends and Dumbledore, I could never have done it alone."

"I see...so all we have to do is hunt down these Horcruxes to kill him?" James said softly.

"Pretty much, but you will also have to destroy the main body, the little pieces of souls inside the Horcruxes are also protected by potent magic."

"Can you tell us where they're hidden?" Sirius asked.

"Will they be hidden in the same places in your dimension?"

James frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure...Our worlds may be parallel but they're not the same."

"Maybe we should have the list just in case." Remus said.

Harry nodded and McGonagall gave him quill and parchment to write the list, he did so quickly; The Locket in the Cave, the Cup in Lestrange's bank Vault, the ring in the old Gaunt house, the Diadem in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts, the diary in the hands of the Malfoy's, the snake Nagini by Voldemorts side...then he looked up. "I'm not sure about the last one, it was me...but he created it in 1981 when he killed my mother and father."

"Well, he wouldn't have created it then, would he?" Sirius said reasonably.

"And he never will...which means that we only have six to look for." James said brightly.

"but even then he's a powerful enemy." Harry said softly.

"That's a point, how did you kill him in the end?" James asked.

"Well..." Harry explained to them about the wands, the matching cores, wand ownership and even that he was the owner of the Elder wand.

Sirius' jaw dropped. "It's real?" He gasped, eyes glittering. "Are you telling me...the Deathly hallows...all of it is..._real_?"

Harry didn't like the look in his eyes, it was power hungry and reminded him too much of his cousins. "You can't use them." He said slowly. "I won't tell you where they are...it's best no one knows."

"Why? They helped you didn't they?" James asked looking nearly as excited as Sirius. "We would definitely be able to beat Voldemort with the Elder wand!"

Remus shook his head. "The cloak, James...think about the cloak."

"Cloak? Oh you mean the invisi-..." He fell silent and his jaw dropped. "You mean...?"

Harry withdrew his silvery cloak and James took out his. "A real Invisibility cloak, immune to most basic spells to remove it or affect its invisibility..."

"This is the cloak? The one Death was supposed to give to Ignotus Peverell?"

"Yeah, we're descended from him and since then it's been passed down from father to son until you gave it to Dumbledore before you died." Harry smiled at his cloak, he never went anywhere without it now, he liked to be able to hide from the press who continued to dog his footsteps.

"I have one of the Deathly Hallows..." James whispered, running the cloak through his fingers slowly as if seeing it for the first time.

"But what of the others? The wand and the stone...?" Sirius said, looking at Harry carefully.

"I told you, I won't tell you where they are. The Wand's bloody history dies with me and the stone is lost."

Sirius pouted. "Master of Death...would have been really useful."

"Yes, except you forget the cost of their use, Sirius." Remus said softly. "Only the cloak is safe because it's used to hide and extend life not kill or take it away, or even give it back."

"Yeah, I suppose so...god Remus, you're so boring sometimes...can't you let a man dream?"

Remus chuckled softly. "I would, except your Slytherin blood won't let you let it go until I've spoken sense."

"True." Sirius grinned. "The hat was rather insistent about me being green and silver, but the colours wash out my skin whereas crimson suited me just fine." He smiled at Harry, his eyes heavily lidded so he resembled his cousin more than ever, it made him uncomfortable so he looked away but not before he saw Sirius smirk.

"Right, now I would like my office back if you please." McGonagall said firmly. "And if I ever see you boys in this school again I shall eject you forcibly, I have no wish to spend the rest of my time here cleaning up after you lot."

"Oh Minerva, I'm hurt that you would assume we hadn't grown up!" James said dramatically.

"I know you haven't Potter, it's written all over your face. Now, go with Harry and he will make sure you have somewhere to stay where you cannot cause trouble."

"Would we?" Sirius said, all innocence. Harry chuckled.

"I'll look after them, professor. Oh, I was wandering if you would give this to Neville, Hermione wants him around for dinner this weekend."

"Very well, but I'm not an owl."

"Sorry." He smiled and waved before they left together using floo powder.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I made this chapter a little longer than the others. Thank you all so, so much for all your wonderful reviews! I am so happy! I must tell you though, I am going away for the weekend and will have no access to my computer so unfortunately I won't be able to update. :O I apologise but I hope this chapter keeps you going until I return! Keep Reading and enjoying and I love hearing from you.

**Chapter Three**

"You have got to be kidding me..." Sirius stepped out of the fireplace and gazed around darkly at the large kitchen. "You live here? How did you manage that?"

"You gave it to me when you died...I've done it up, re-decorated and stuff..." Harry watched Sirius gaze around the Kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld place with disgust on his face. The Kitchen was neat and tidy, pots and pans lined the walls hung on hooks and glittered in the lamp light. It looked friendly and clean.

"Welcome home master."

Sirius stiffened and turned to the source of the voice, Kreacher saw him and blanched, he backed off a few paces before turning to Harry. "Ah...Yes, Kreacher...Sirius will be staying for a while..."

The Elf bowed but said nothing to Sirius as he turned to Harry again. "Kreacher has started Dinner, Master, Steak and Ale pie with sautéed potatoes and winter vegetables."

"Thanks." Harry smiled at the little Elf who bowed again as the four of them walked out into the hall way. Sirius glanced back at the elf before the door swung shut behind them.

"I even gave you Kreacher?" He said, eyes still roving around the newly decorated hall.

"Yes, he used to hate me until I gave him a locket." Harry chuckled at Sirius' expression. "Come on, I'll show you what I've done..."

"You're back are you? I was almost hoping you would die on a mission, boy."

Harry stood by the portrait of Sirius' mother, she no longer screamed and they had come to a tense truce since he had moved in, but she still wished him dead each morning before he went to work. "I'm stuck doing paper work, I doubt I'll die from a paper cut."

"Still, I will continue to hope."

Sirius hung back in the shadows, his eyes narrowed at the portrait. Remus watched with a bemused expression while James looked around the place with curious eyes. "You know, I always wanted to see where you lived Siri." He said absently as he leaned close to the portrait and inspected the woman within.

"And what are you?" Walburga asked.

"James Potter, you must be Sirius' mum."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "Bloodtraitors and filth...this house has been turned into a half way house for all sorts of scum these past few years. I must say that I am disappointed."

"Well, you can continue to be disappointed." Harry sighed.

"Right...let's see what you've done with the place then." Sirius muttered, ignoring his mother's eyes which bored into his back.

The drawing room was warm and cosy with large squashy arm chairs and a sofa, the carpets had been ripped out to reveal the dark wooden floors beneath and the fireplace gleamed with dark grey marble. There was a large rug in the centre of the floor with an ebony coffee table on it, pictures and paintings lined the walls many of them containing Harry and his friends.

"You were on the Quidditch team?" James asked as he gazed down at one of Harry with his team.

"Yeah, Seeker." Harry said with a small smile.

"Nice, I was chaser."

"I know."

"I don't even recognise the place, you've done well Prongslet. I like what you've done...not a snakes head in sight." Sirius smiled at him warmly.

"Thanks, it wasn't hard and my friends helped me."

"So, what do you do?" Remus asked.

"I work at the Ministry, an Auror."

"Wow, you must be good to have completed all that training."

"Well..." Harry rubbed the back of his head and stared down at the rug. "Actually I'm kind of friends with the Minister for Magic, we worked together and...well...he gave me the position after I defeated Lord Voldemort."

Sirius snorted laughter. "So, it's not what you know, it's who you know. Nice one."

"The others don't like it, they had to work hard to get into the Auror's...but I got a leg up."

"You did destroy the greatest dark wizard of our time, I can understand why they would think you wouldn't need to go through all that training."

"I also never completed my Hogwarts Education..." Harry flushed guiltily.

"Still...defeating the Dark lord is a pretty big deal, you probably don't need to prove yourself to them." James said with a comforting smile.

The door opened to reveal Kreacher carrying a tea tray, on which was balanced a porcelain tea pot with several cups, even a few small cakes. He put the tray on the coffee table and began pouring the tea, the locket gleamed on his bare chest and he ignored Sirius. The group sat down and were each handed a cup, except Sirius who shot the elf a glare that made James snicker. Harry handed him his cup instead with an apologetic smile. "He's alright really, Sirius." He said and watched a sneer cross his godfathers face.

"He's scum...like they all were. They deserved their fate."

"What...what happened to them?" Harry asked slowly. "Your family I mean."

Sirius sighed and pushed hair from his eyes. "Regulus happened." He said quietly, looking down at his hands. "He joined up with the Death Eaters, then decided that actually what they were doing was wrong so...he tried to take down Voldemort on his own, or so Bella told me, he failed and died...afterwards Voldemort hunted down the rest of my family and killed them off...he had a public execution, I snuck out to see it for myself...Regulus' body was hacked to pieces right in front of my mother, she was forced to watch as her precious baby was thrown to a Chimera." He paused and sighed softly. "Then my parents were thrown to it, the spectators cheered as they were ripped apart."

"That's horrible..." Harry whispered.

"Horrible? It was hilarious." Sirius smiled and shook his head. "I hated my parents, I wanted them to die for as long as I could remember, that I got to witness it is one of the happier moments of my life." Remus looked away and James frowned down at his tea cup. Suddenly Sirius laughed. "Look at your face, Harry! My parents were evil...look..." He stood and yanked his t-shirt over his head, Harry gazed at his chest and gaped. His chest was scarred, the white skin marred by words gouged into his it; Bloodtraitor. "My dear old mum decided she'd do this to me when I was eleven, when I got myself sorted into Gryffindor she used her wand to gouge the words into my chest for all to see...she marked me for the rest of my life, I would have to live with the knowledge that I was a bloodtraitor. Unfortunately for her all this scar proves is that I did the right thing."

The dark look in Sirius' eyes scared Harry slightly and the atmosphere was tense, James glared into his tea and chewed his lip while Remus watched Sirius carefully as he shoved on his t-shirt and sat back down.

"You're different from the Sirius I knew." Harry said slowly with a small frown.

"In what way?" Sirius cocked his handsome head to the side curiously.

"You're...well...darker..."

Sirius chuckled. "I guess I've just been through more than your Sirius."

"I suppose so."

"Tell me about him..."

"He was...sad." Harry said slowly, turning his little cup around on its saucer. "When my father died he went to Azkaban for betraying him to Voldemort, he spent twelve years in the prison before escaping to murder the one who actually sold them out..."

"Who?" Remus asked softly.

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Figures...little rat was always pathetic." Sirius hissed.

"It was Sirius who discovered my parents bodies and me in the house in Godric's Hollow, he gave me to Hagrid to take to Dumbledore before hunting down Pettigrew...he tried to kill him but Peter faked his own death and took twelve muggles with him, the Ministry found Sirius by the crater laughing...so they assumed he did it. He was sent to Azkaban without a trial to rot...but he became the only person to escape the Dementors." He explained about how he had become aware that Sirius had never betrayed his parents, about how he had helped him escape the Ministry and eventually explained about his death in 1996. "It's...strange having you back here..." Harry smiled slightly. "You may be different but its only little differences, you also look better."

Sirius laughed softly and Remus smiled. "So...Lily and I die protecting you in this dimension?" James asked slowly, looking at Harry who nodded.

"It must be odd seeing me, huh?"

"Very..."

James smiled Harry's smile. "You look like me, reckon this dimensions version of me would have been proud."

Harry flushed and looked at his feet. "Thanks...that means a lot."

"What happens to me?" Remus asked curiously.

"In 1998 there was a battle at Hogwarts, I was searching for the Diadem and the Order appeared to help defend the place while I searched, you and your wife were killed in that battle leaving behind a son, Teddy Lupin, my Godson."

Remus digested that carefully before smiling. "I have a family? How did I manage that? I swore to myself I would never pass on these genes..."

"Your wife's name was Nymphadora Tonks, she fell in love with you when I was fifteen and eventually you got married, even though you never really wanted to. When you got her pregnant you freaked out and ran off to join me in my quest for the Horcuxes..."

"What happened? Tell me you didn't _let_ him!" James said with a glare at Remus who rolled his eyes.

"No, I told him he was a coward, made him angry enough to almost attack me and he left...turns out you went back to see your son born and he wasn't a werewolf." Harry smiled. "He's three now, living with his grandmother Andromeda."

Sirius frowned disapprovingly at Remus. "You shagged my little cousin?" He said softly.

"No, Sirius, not in our dimension...she must be what..."

"A baby. She's a baby...you had a kid with her? You befouled my innocent little cousin? You disgust me, Mr. Moony."

James chuckled. "He's sick."

"That he is."

"Oi! I haven't..."

"So you deny it?" Sirius managed to keep the smirk off his face.

"Yes! I haven't even met her."

"You have a son."

"Yes but..."

"You have to have sex to have kids, Remus."

"I know but..."

"Which means you deflowered my favourite Cousin."

"I..."

"You will be punished." Sirius finally smirked. "I will not tell you when, or how...all you will know is that I will make you regret ever laying hands on Dora."

"You two are ridiculous." Remus sighed.

Harry watched the banter and couldn't help but smile, they were obviously still good friends and he liked watching them together, it gave him an insight into their relationship he had never had before.

"Two? Come on Remus, be fair, I never took part in teasing you...this time at any rate." James said looking hurt.

"You encourage him...isn't that enough?"

At that moment there was a knock at the door, Harry sighed and stood before making his way into the hall where Walburga Black was calling him.

"Boy! The door! Get the door!"

"Yes, alright...Give it a rest or I'll close the curtains."

"How dare you spe-..."

Harry waved his wand casually and cut off her protests as he opened the door, a girl stood there with long red hair and brown eyes. "Ginny..." Harry muttered.

"Hi...I've come for my stuff..." Ginny looked pretty even in her Quidditch uniform, her broom over her shoulder and flushed cheeks. "I just got back from work and I...well..." She looked down. "I wanted to see you."

Harry licked his lips slowly and stood aside. "It's all in boxes." He said in a hard voice.

"Oh...ok..." Ginny lowered her broom and stepped into the house.

"Harry, who...?" Sirius looked at the girl and smiled. "Hello, I'm..."

"Sirius Black?" Ginny's eyes widened in shock. "But you're dead!"

"So I am..." Sirius smirked and leaned on the wall. "Or at least in this time."

"It's a long story." Harry said softly, avoiding Ginny's eyes.

"I see...well...I-I'll get my stuff then." She walked past Harry who closed the door behind her with a snap and ran fingers through his hair with a sigh.

"A girlfriend?" Sirius asked as he stepped closer.

"She was for a while..."

"What happened?"

Harry shook his head slowly. "Last week I found her in bed with my friend Dean Thomas..." He said quietly.

"Oh...I see..." Sirius winced. "That's gotta hurt."

"I guess so." Harry leaned against the wall heavily. "She's my best mate's sister, Ginny Weasley."

"A Weasley, huh? They're a good family from what I remember, although their name was mud in my house." Sirius watched Harry, his eyes intense and Harry found himself gazing back, the air seemed thick and he forced himself to look away with difficulty. "Well, there's plenty more fish in the sea, or so the Muggle's say, you're attractive enough, you'll find someone."

Harry chuckled. "That sounds strange coming from you."

"Why?" Sirius looked shocked.

"Well...just look at you! You're handsome..."

"I know, but there's a lot to be desired about my personality." Sirius pushed hair from his eyes and smiled revealing unnaturally sharp canine teeth.

"Did I just here you say Harry's attractive?" James appeared at Sirius' shoulder.

"Why yes I did, Prongsy, but don't get jealous baby, you know your my only love muffin."

Harry laughed. "Love muffin?"

"Yes, he decided in our third year that he wanted all the girls at Hogwarts for himself so he spread the rumour that I was gay and in a relationship with him...which turned out to alienate him as well." James chuckled. "I spent ages wandering why girls would keep shooting us glances and making 'aw' sounds at us...then he started calling me pet names and putting his arm around me...I eventually asked one girl out and she was shocked and said that there was no need to be ashamed of my sexuality..." James leaned on Sirius who was grinning nostalgically. "Good Times, Pads."

"Yeah...I miss those days."

They were interrupted by the sounds of someone struggling down the stairs with something heavy, Harry moved past his father and friends and saw Ginny struggling with three large boxes. He sighed and met her half way. "Here, let me..." He said and took a box from her arms.

"It's alright, I've got them."

"I can help..."

"No. I'm fine Harry."

Harry stepped back as Ginny waved her wand and the boxes lifted into the air and flew down the stairs, forcing Harry out the way. She made them land in a neat pile at the foot of the stairs and turned to Harry, their eyes met and he saw how sad she looked. "Harry...I-I...I'm sorry." She said softly and lowered her eyes.

"You think sorry will make it better?" Harry replied stiffly, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "You think that an apology will excuse what you did?"

"I..."

"You were in my bed with him, Ginny."

"I know! But I could hardly go to you, could I? We had sex once! _Once_, Harry! After that you never touched me, you made me sleep in a separate room!"

"I..." Harry flushed brightly and shot a glance at Sirius and James who were watching them curiously, Remus was peering out the door and suddenly disappeared again, his hand shot out and he grabbed James' shirt, pulling him back into the drawing room.

"I love you Harry, but I can't be in a relationship with no physical contact...I'm sorry...but..."

Harry rubbed his eyes behind his glasses and sat down on the stairs, burying his face in his hands. "Alright, fine. Then it's over...Have fun with Dean."

"I will." She stalked past him and waved her wand so the boxes rose into the air again as she guided them out the door. "Harry...I want you to be happy, but if you carry on like this you'll end up alone. You don't even spend much time with Ron or Hermione...at least go see them once in a while, and of your own volition, rather than sitting alone in this empty house and dwelling on a past you can do nothing about. I never blamed you...not once." With that she was gone and the door closed behind her with an almost painful finality.

Harry lowered his head, trying to compose himself. He felt and heard someone sit at his side. "So...you haven't been doing your duty to your girlfriend?" Sirius said softly. "Can I ask why? You're a hot blooded teenager, if you're anything like James then you should be fucking at least five times a day..."

"It's not like that..." Harry said through his fingers. "I...I just...it's all so messed up."

"Try talking, it might help." Sirius put a hand on his shoulder and Harry looked up, his eyes were understanding and gentle and before he could stop himself he was spilling his guts.

"Ginny and I started going out in my sixth year, it was the best moment of my life, I started to fall in love with her slowly over the year...then when I realised that I had to hunt for the Horcruxes I realised that we couldn't be together, Voldemort would only use her against me so I broke it off. We got back together again afterwards...we moved in with each other and it was fine until...until we had sex...afterwards I realised that my fame, my reputation could potentially kill her. What if another Dark Wizard appeared? What if they decided to get me by using Ginny as bait? What if she died like her brother, like Remus, like you, like my father...all to protect _me_! My whole life has been marked by death and destruction, I can't do it to her...So I sabotaged it...like a coward."

"You...blame yourself for all those people?"

"It is my fault, Sirius...it's all my fault. I may as well have killed them all myself, I still have that blood on my hands."

"Sounds like you're taking too much on, these people died to protect you, yes, but they had a choice. Everyone always has a choice, Harry." Sirius smiled and smoothed hair from Harry's face with gentle fingers, he ran his thumb gently over the scar and made Harry shiver. "I can tell you for certain that if I died protecting you then I would have died happy, I always wanted to die in battle...a hero."

"What are you two doing up there?" Remus appeared around the corner. "James is rummaging through your house, Harry...you'd better stop him before he finds your secrets."

Harry chuckled and stood. "Alright." He took one last look at Sirius who was looking at him oddly before descending the stairs.

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

Harry was woken up by an odd scratching sound, he blinked and yawned as the noise increased. He sat up and saw a large brown owl sitting on his window sill looking dishevelled and irritable in the steady rain. He stood and opened the window so the owl could enter, it perched on his shoulder as he removed the letter from its beak and opened it.

_Mr. Potter, could you come into work today, there's an emergency situation and we need every man._

_Thanks, Jeffry Arbor Head of the Auror Office._

"Shit." Harry sighed as the owl hooted at him before taking flight again. He changed quickly and ran down the stairs to the kitchen, still shrugging into robes of dark green. Kreacher was in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"Good morning Master, Kreacher is making breakfast..."

"Sorry, Kreacher, I've been called into work. Tell my fa-James and the others that I might be late." He grabbed a peice of toast and ran out the house with it.

When he arrived the Ministry was in uproar and he received a memo asking for his presence in the Ministers office, he practically ran to the lifts and hammered the button still munching his toast. "Hey! Harry!"

"Ron, hi."

"Have you heard?" His friends blue eyes were wide with excitement.

"Heard what? All I've had is a letter and a memo..."

"Well, people have been saying that the Death Eater's we haven't caught ahve been rallying! They were spotted gathering in a huge group, we don't know why or what they're doing but it means trouble."

Harry frowned and rubbed his scar. "If this is true..."

"Mr. Potter, The minister is asking for you." A small mousy woman stood before the lift doors as they opened, Harry nodded and followed her to the end of the hall and the large ornate office. Kingsley sat behind a large ostentatious desk made of carved oak and inlaid with golden vines, when they entered he looked up from a sheaf of papers. In the room stood several high up Auror's, one was a grizzled old man with gnarled fingers and a grim face, his hard eyes bored into Harry as he swept past.

"Minister, what happened?" He asked as he stood before Kingsley.

The tall black man looked grave. "I am sure that Ronald has already told you that Death Eaters have been spotted congregating, but that is not all...we have been tracing some very strange magical activity throughout the region, London is subject to sudden fluctuations in powerful magic, the anomalies have been recorded by the Improper use of Magic office when they believed them to be done by underage wizards, however, their findings lead us to believe that these are no accidents. There is a pattern to them, the latest and most powerful burst came from Hogwarts directly...It was like a strike of lightening directly over the Headmistresses office. Do you know what the cause would be, Minerva said to speak to you."

Harry nodded. "Well, yesterday I was called into Hogwarts to see something...basically three people had appeared, apparently they came from another dimension seeking help..."

"Who were they?" Ron asked.

Harry closed his eyes. "James Potter, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black." He said quietly.

"This is impossible." Kingsley said, disbelief etched into his face.

"Obviously not, they're definitely real."

"How did they get here?" Ron looked amazed.

"Using some lockets that their Dumbledore invented, their dimension is different...in that one Voldemort has taken over and is purging Muggleborns, he's in charge of the country and is hunting down and persecuting bloodtraitors. Dumbledore was murdered by him along with...with their Lily Evans...and me."

"You're dead in their time?"

"Yes, My fat-James told me that I was ripped from my mother's womb and dashed upon some rocks...he tried to save me and her but was too slow."

"I see...but that could mean that others are appearing in our dimension...this could have terrible consequences. I will investigate further, for now I want you to take Ronald and another to go to Hampstead Heath and investigate the latest source of these strange anomalies."

"Yes Minister." Harry turned for the door but was held back by Kingsley.

"Harry, will you be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Harry smiled and waved before following Ron out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Finally I'm back! Phew, that was hard work. I'm working too many stories at once, so I apologise for the slow updates! I will flog myself in penitence for my grievous sins! Anyways, please enjoy this chappy, I am developing characters and slowly introducing the main storyline, so I apologise if I'm jumping from serious to chilled...bear with it and soon it will settle down. :) I would love to hear what you think, and the interest in my story is most flattering! Keep reading and any reviews are well appreciated.

**Chapter Four**

The sun was bright and the day warm when Ron and Harry appeared in amongst a small copse of trees on The Heath, there was a lake to their right and a large stretch of green grass on their left, they had both changed into casual Muggle clothes as the place was reasonably busy with dog walkers, tourists and students. They began walking around the lake, following directions given to them by Kingsley's secretary.

"So..." Ron began, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking awkward. "Haven't heard from you in a while, mate."

"Er...no...sorry. I've been busy."

Ron shot him a nervous glance. "I don't blame you...for Ginny I mean."

"Thanks..." Harry lowered his head as they came to a halt, he scuffed the floor with a trainer absently.

"Look, whatever she did she must have had a reason, I'm sure if you just talk..."

"It's ok Ron, I don't think we'll be getting back together."

Ron sighed. "She loved you."

"I know."

The silence was awkward and the two men avoided each other's eyes, but before Harry could say something to break the unnatural tension a loud shout made him look up. He saw a couple walking through the trees, arm in arm, the girl was tall with a fall of dark hair as she threw her head back and laughed loudly. The man was of average height with white-blond hair slicked back from his pointed face. Ron nudged Harry. "Hey, look at who it is!"

Harry said nothing as the couple approached, they were feet from them when the man looked up and spotted them, they halted. "Well, well, if it isn't Harry Potter." Draco Malfoy said stiffly.

"Malfoy." Harry nodded in greeting.

"Potter? You mean this is the one who defeated the Dark Lord?" Astoria Greengrass was pretty and she smiled warmly at them, holding out her hand in greeting. "It's nice to meet you properly."

"Likewise." Harry shook her hand briefly.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" Draco said, his face was thin and he looked older than his nineteen years.

"Working." Ron said.

"I see...then we shall leave you to it." Draco inclined his head and they walked past, suddenly Harry turned.

"Malfoy, I was hoping that perhaps you could answer a few questions for us, if you would be willing."

"Am I suspected of something?"

"No, I just think that you might be able to help us with this investigation."

"I see..." Malfoy looked Harry up and down for a moment before slowly nodding. "A few questions will be harmless, I suppose. There is a rather good cafe here, we will at least be able to sit as we speak, come."

They followed Malfoy and Greengrass down a long winding path, Ron leaned close to Harry and whispered; "Harry, what if he's up to something? We can't trust anything that bloody snake says."

Harry frowned. "I don't know Ron, I reckon he's learned his lesson, he knows what I'm capable of I doubt he would try anything in a cafe full of muggles and at any rate, we can overpower him if we have to."

The cafe was small and friendly, the group sat down and ordered some hot drinks. When they arrived Harry leaned forward. "We're investigating some strange magical anomalies that have been appearing around the country, large bursts of magical energies...also we have been hearing of some rather large gatherings of Death Eaters...I was wandering if there was any way you would know what was happening."

Draco sipped his tea slowly, a small frown on his face before answering. "Straight to business then, Potter? Aren't you the diligent one."

"It's important."

"I gather. I have had no contact with anyone from the old circles since after the Battle of Hogwarts..." His grey eyes darkened and for a second Harry saw guilt in them before the emotion was covered by his mask. "I am sorry, but I cannot help you."

Harry sighed and bit his lip. "Are you sure? Have you any idea about why they would be gathering again?"

Draco paused again. "I can only think of one thing that would bring them all back like this." His eyes lingered on Harry's scar and he automatically lifted a hand and touched it.

"Have you...has it hurt at all?" Harry asked softly, glancing at Draco's left arm.

"No. Not since the day he was destroyed." The blond replied, gripping his sleeve tightly, there was the faintest flash of fear in his eyes as he spoke. "But...I admit I have heard rumours of such gatherings. I cannot tell you why, but I know they are happening with an increasing frequency."

Astoria was quiet, looking into her tea with sad eyes. There was a silence before Harry sighed heavily and ran fingers through his hair. "Well, thanks for this...I'll leave you to it now..." He stood but Draco grabbed his wrist tightly and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Potter, be careful."

"Why?"

Draco looked at him incredulously. "Because you destroyed the Dark Lord! If they are gathering there is the very strong possibility that they will be targeting you, you took away their livelihoods, you destroyed their way of life, they will want revenge at whatever cost."

The moment was tense and Harry had the distinct impression that Draco wasn't telling him everything, he looked into those grey eyes and saw fear there. "I will, thanks."

Draco nodded. "I owe you, Potter, as much as it disgusts me. I owe you my life." He watched Harry leave with Ron, his face fell and he sighed, pushing fingers into his immaculate hair before closing his eyes. Astoria put a hand on his shoulder gently, kissing his fingers.

"We'll be alright, Draco...we can enhance the protections on the Manor, we can make it a fortress and no one will be able to get in."

"I...I should have given him the letters, he would should be warned."

"If you did you would gain unwanted attention, I thought you wanted a quiet life? You want to have a family and raise them away from all this."

"I do...I don't want any children of mine making the same mistakes I did."

"Then you did all that you could." She lifted his head with her hand and kissed him. "We'll be fine." He smiled but privately wished he had her confidence.

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

"You know you shouldn't be looking at that, James." Remus said softly as he stood in the doorway of Harry's bedroom, the room had obviously belonged to Sirius as it was still plastered with scantily clad girls draped seductively over motorbikes and huge Gryffindor banners. James was sat at the old dark wood desk, leaning over a large book by the light of a single candle, slowly he looked up blinking owlishly at his friend. He pushed his glasses further up onto his nose before looking away again.

"I saw it...it was open so I took a look...It's a photo album of myself, Lily and Harry...look." He lifted up the book and Remus moved closer, peering curiously at the images. They were indeed of James and Lily, gazing back at him with big smiles on their faces, some were of their wedding with Sirius stood at James' shoulder and everyone smiling happily and raising glasses to the happy couple. James ran his finger down a picture of Lily looking radiant in an ivory dress with daisies in her hair and lily's in her hands, she was smiling, forever frozen in that one blissful moment, unaware that a year later her whole life would be destroyed. James' eyes were glistening as he looked down at his dead lover. "We never got married in our time...not really." He whispered softly, unable to tear his eyes away from the smiling, waving woman. "You know it was never officiated, merely a quick exchange of vows and a kiss before we went off for another battle...to watch more of our friends die."

Remus closed his eyes and took a slow breath, trying to force away memories of screams and blood. "I know, James."

"...You reckon we were happy in this dimension?" James' voice cracked and he gripped the album tightly as he hid his eyes behind a hand. His shoulders shook with silent sobs and Remus could only put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, we'll find a way to stop them. We'll destroy Voldemort if it's the last thing we do, we will avenge them all."

"'Course we will, Jamie." Sirius stood, leaning casually against the door frame, he had a cigarette dangling from his lips and his arms folded across his chest. "I'll make sure we rip the fucker limb from limb, just like he did to Benji and so many others...before he dies I want to hear his screams for a change."

"Sirius, don't." Remus said hoarsely, he looked at his friend whose eyes were so dark they were almost as black as the hair that fell into them, he saw the dark fury roiling within him and knew he would explode if they didn't get back soon. Sirius had become strange since they had begun fighting, after he had witnessed a murder first hand he had begun to act strange, his mind had snapped for a while but he had regained most of his sanity but sometimes he was strange and dark and he scared his friends.

"I miss her." James croaked, seemingly unaware of the conversation.

Sirius' eyes softened and he moved into the room, dropping to his knees before his best friend and grabbing him into a tight embrace. "We'll get revenge, Prongsy." He whispered, running his hands through those messy locks. "We'll get him, make him scream and beg for mercy...I promise you, If it's the last thing I do, I will lay his fucking disgusting head on her grave as a gift! We all loved her, Jamie...she was the sister I never had."

"Same here, Prongs." Remus whispered softly, putting a gentle hand on James' hand as it covered the image of his dead wife.

"We will fight and kill and die for you!" Sirius breathed, taking James' face in his hands and looking into his damp eyes. "We're a team, yeah?"

James nodded slowly, licking his lips as his fingers curled into fists upon the photo. "I'll kill him. I'll kill him and cut him open, he can watch as his entrails fall out and he dies slowly! He'll scream louder than her!"

"That's the spirit, Prongs." Sirius said with an evil grin around his cigarette, grey smoke drifted up to the ceiling as James took it from his lips and took a slow drag. "We'll get what we need."

"I'm not so sure about this, Sirius." Remus said softly. "What if he's not..."

"Of course he's the one we need! Dumbledore said something about that prophesy, he said that the Dark Lord would mark him as an equal and that he would have power the Dark Lord knows not! We knew this long before Dumbledore was killed, we need Harry Potter!"

"But he's got friends here..." Remus insisted.

"So? Our need is greater." Sirius insisted.

"We can't just kidnap him, that's not fair!"

"If he won't come willingly Moons, we'll have to. We have no choice!" Sirius snapped.

"That doesn't mean we should force him! James, please, tell me you're not considering..." Remus saw the hardness in James' eyes and he sighed, knowing he would be out voted. Slowly he ran fingers through his hair and sat down heavily on the bed. "He will hate us." He said softly and lowered his head. "The world we will make him go to is...it's _horrible_. How can we do this?"

"Sirius is right, Remus, we have no choice. What is one person against the lives of thousands? Think about this, it's all for the greater good." James said softly, he looked down at the image of Lily before running a finger down it once again. "I'm sorry, Lily...I have to." He whispered before closing the book with a snap.

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

That weekend Harry went around Hermione and Ron's new place taking James, Sirius and Remus with him due to Ron's constant nagging. They arrived with a bottle of fine Elf-made Wine, the door to the small cottage was opened by Hermione who smiled when she saw Harry.

"I didn't think you'd come." She said and embraced Harry. "Come in..."

Harry handed her the bottle and entered the house, removing his shoes at the door. Hermione spotted his companions and gaped. "I would introduce you but-er...you already know who they are."

"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger." She said with a small smile as she held out her hand to James. "I-I never knew you, Mr. Potter, but I saw pictures and you do look like Harry."

James smiled amiably. "Please, it's James, when people call me Mr. Potter it makes me think of my dad."

"Hermione! This is bloody brilliant! How does it work?" Ron's voice came from the living room where music was playing so loudly Harry could feel the vibrations thrumming through the floor. Hermione pulled a face as Genesis' _Land of Confusion_ was pumped from huge speakers.

"TURN IT DOWN!" Hermione shouted into the living room and the volume was reduced, Sirius snickered. "Thank you! He's been doing that for an hour, playing with all the buttons on the new CD player my parents got me." She rolled her eyes.

"What the hell are CD's?" Sirius asked, eyes glittering with fascination.

"A Compact Disk, it's a bit like a record but smaller." Hermione replied.

"So...it plays music? Like those muggle Records? I had one of those! My mum used to hate it when I played Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd on it, she eventually blew it up...but it was fun while it lasted." Sirius smiled nostalgically as they followed Hermione into the living room where Ron was on his knees before a huge CD player, the speakers of which were huge. The ginger looked up and grinned at the sight of his friend, he stood and took Harry's hand.

"This thing is amazing! It's got plugs and everything!"

Harry laughed. "Funny that."

"These Muggle's, eh? Brilliant! My Dad would like it...but he'd want to take it apart..." He turned to the three stood behind Harry and his mouth fell open. His blue eyes moved up and down the three before he closed his mouth and smiled, holding out his hand. "Hi, Ronald Weasley. We've er...met before but you wouldn't know that."

"No, I suppose not." Remus said with a smile as he shook Ron's hand.

"A Weasley, huh? Good family yours." Sirius said.

"Wow...so...you're really James Potter?" Ron's eyes were huge as he turned to face James. "You're like...as famous as Harry! A _hero_."

"Unfortunately I'm a dead Hero it seems, not how I imagined my future to be honest."

"Well...I suppose..." Ron looked awkward but James chuckled.

"Thing is, I'm not dead now. No hard feelings."

Hermione entered with several glasses and the uncorked wine bottle which she placed on the table. "Sit down, dinner will be done soon." She said and began pouring the wine.

They sat and spoke for a while, the bottle was soon emptied and eventually they started on dinner. When they had all eaten they retired back to the living room for more wine. Harry was feeling quiet drunk, his head was swimming pleasantly as he listened to the talk around him, letting the voices wash over him as he gazed at his two best friends and felt doubly fond of them. He smiled as Ron put his arm around Hermione's shoulder as they spoke to James and Remus, then he felt as if something was watching him, he turned his head slowly and his eyes met dark silver. Sirius was lounging casually in a chair, his wine glass in one hand and his hair falling across his forehead elegantly. Slowly he smiled a devilish smile and sipped his wine, the deep ruby colour highlighted by the electric light above their heads.

"Oh yeah, Ginny's just signed on for another year with the Harpy's." Ron was saying, breaking the strange intense moment and drawing Harry's gaze. "They were desperate enough to give her a raise, hopefully she'll be able to get them into the European Cup this year." Hermione giggled slightly drunkenly before covering her mouth. "What's wrong with you?" Rona asked with a small frown.

"Oh...nothing, it just reminded me of something she told me..." Hermione had a soft pink flush high on her cheek bones and her eyes glittered.

"Come on, spill! She's my little sister." Ron nudged her.

"Alright. I heard that she's been dating Silas Rohdes, the manager of her team! She said he's rather..._talented_." She giggled again slightly manically.

Ron pulled a disgusted face. "Too much information, Hermione." He muttered.

Harry felt empty suddenly, he looked away from his friends who had been unaware he had been listening. He looked down into the depths of his wine glass before downing it and standing up, he swayed on the spot. "I'm...gunna get some air..." He muttered and stumbled to the door.

Ron half rose from his seat. "I'll go with you, mate."

"No...stay...It's fine." He tried to smile but failed, so instead he turned away.

A few minutes passed before Sirius stood too. "I'll go see if he's alright." He muttered and followed Harry out the door, Remus watched him go with a concerned frown.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Ok, I will now be flicking between Hermione and Ron and Harry and co, you will see why when you read on. Hope you enjoy, this is a rather depressing chapter in my opinion but I like it. :) Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming!

**Chapter Five**

Harry leaned against the wall that surrounded Hermione and Ron's front garden, the street was dark and quiet except for the sounds of music from somewhere further down and a flickering street lamp.

"What's up, Prongslet?"

He turned to see Sirius stood at his side wearing a small smile. "Nothing really, I just wanted some air. I'll be fine, you should go back inside."

"I know that look, Harry, I've seen it on James' face many times before when he was upset."

"I'm not upset...not really."

"Is it this Ginny girl?"

"I...yes, I suppose." Harry looked down at his hands and sighed, a small frown creased his brow. "I loved her for a while, but now...I don't know."

"Love is fickle I suppose, not that I can comment, I've never been in love. Not even sure if I believe it exists, Dumbledore used to go on about how it's the most potent magic in existence, but to be honest I think it's a lie told to us to make life easier."

"He doesn't sound too different to our Dumbledore." Harry replied with a half smile. "But how can you not believe in love? Isn't that lonely?"

Sirius shrugged. "Not really, I have Remus and James, I have never felt the need for anything else. I have had a few lovers but none that I would say I loved, for me living is sensation. It's physical, my happiness doesn't depend upon another person, I only need what is right before me, the scents, sounds and physical feelings that the world provides...It's not lonely so long as I have these things."

"I suppose...at least it prevents you from getting hurt."

"It does." Sirius smiled, revealing a set of perfect white teeth. "Maybe I could teach you how to live without the need for someone else?"

"But won't you be returning soon?"

Sirius' smile widened. "Yes, we will be, once we've got what we came for."

"So you know what it is?" Harry felt a little sad that he would be losing them so soon after he had found them again, but in some small way he was glad. This Sirius scared him slightly, he was different, in a dark way.

"We do."

"What did you come here for then?"

Sirius' eyes glittered in the street light, slowly he lifted his hand and Harry saw a locket glowing on its chain, now he was seeing it up-close he could see that it was silver with no markings on it. "This is a spare one, when Lily died we took it from her in case any Death Eaters decided to use it and now..." He lifted it up and slipped it over Harry's head. "It's yours." Harry's eyes widened as he felt an awful buzzing sensation fill his body, he felt light and as he raised his hand he realised he was glowing too. Sirius grinned. "See you on the other side."There was a loud pop and a flash of golden light and Sirius turned, running into the house and grabbing James. "We have to go." He said and dragged him out of his seat before grabbing Remus. "Thanks for the food and drink, we'll probably never see each other again! Have fun!" He waved and shoved his own locket around his neck which was pulsing with light.

Remus' eyes widened as he pulled out his own with James. "Sirius! What have you done?" He exclaimed as he was engulfed in light as bright as the sun, Sirius merely smiled as the three were thrown into darkness.

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

Harry blinked, coughing slightly as he recovered from his sudden and unexpected inter-dimensional travel, he climbed to his feet and looked around to see where he was. What he saw made him sick. He was standing in the centre of Muggle London, he was unsure of the exact location but that was mostly because half the buildings were dilapidated, roofs had fallen in, walls blown away and there were windows smashed or boarded up. He looked upwards to see something that made his breath catch in his throat, in the clouds where there should have been the reflection of yellow and orange light from the city was instead a hideous green glowing skull. It was massive, it must have stretched over the entire city and its ghastly glow gave everything an evil look, as if the very air were tainted with Dark Magic. He slowly tore his eyes away and looked down at the silver locket in his palm, it was cool and dark, just a simple cheaply made locket, its magic having been expended.

Suddenly there were three separate pops as people appeared beside him, he spun around and saw Sirius, James and Remus all recovering. "Hey! Take me back!" He shouted, gaining the attention of his companions. "Take me back! You had no right to just..."

"Shh!" James hissed, stepping forward and putting a hand over his mouth. "Just be quiet, if you shout like that you'll gain unwanted attention! Are you an idiot?"

"Come on, let's find a safe house..." Remus whispered. "We can discuss it all there."

Harry bit back his furious retorts and followed his father and friends down the street, the further they went the worse it got. There were no cars on the roads, the streets were empty of people and even animals seemed too fearful to break the eerie silence. The houses were all in varying states of disrepair, the whole place had a sullen, abandoned feel about it and yet Harry felt as if eyes were everywhere. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself.

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

Ron and Hermione searched everywhere for Harry, but they found no sign of him, they eventually came to the conclusion that he had been taken or had willingly gone with his father. Ron sat on a sofa, drink in hand as he gazed at the wall. "Why would he just bugger off without telling us? It doesn't make sense."

"No, it's not like him to do that." Hermione agreed.

"You reckon they kidnapped him?"

"Judging from what Remus was saying before they fled I would assume so..."

"Then how are we supposed to get him back?" Ron ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know, Ron, but we'll find a way...His place is here with us."

"Maybe Kingsley will have an idea...I would ask Dumbledore but..."

Hermione sat upright. "I'm sure we could, if we send a letter to McGonagall...she's bound to let us into the school for that."

The next morning they contacted the Headmistress, she replied quickly and granted them permission to visit and speak with the portrait of Dumbledore above her desk. When they arrived they greeted the picture and sat down in seats, slowly Hermione explained about Harry's sudden disappearance, McGonagall listened politely.

"So...do you know how we can get him back?" Ron finished, looking hopefully up at Dumbledore.

"I am afraid that this branch of magic is unheard of here, I cannot help you. Perhaps Harry will complete whatever task he must complete and return on his own, but I cannot be certain."

Hermione sighed. "Well, I suppose we should begin some research, thank you professors."

"I hope you do get him back, he will be sorely missed. Tell Kingsley all that has happened, it cannot get out that Harry Potter is missing, the masses would not only panic but it may embolden the Death Eaters still loyal to their cause."

"Yes, we will." The two left to return home and begin their research.

"What do you think Albus? Will the boy return?"

Dumbledore considered a moment. "I believe that he may be faced with a choice, he could return, but the question is; will he want to?"

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

The house was small and full of people, they were crammed in together into every room and even on the stairs in the hall way. The place stank of humanity, many were injured but all had the same look of hopelessness and despair written across their faces. Harry took a slow breath and nearly gagged on the smell, he covered his nose as they squeezed through the crowds gaining little more than the odd curious glance, most were too beaten to look twice.

"What is this place?" Harry asked as they entered what was the living room, there were no sofa's or any other sign of comfort except blankets and sleeping bags scattering the filthy floors. "It's like...like a third world country!"

"This is our London, Harry...this is the world with Voldemort in charge." Remus said softly, his voice was sad.

"It's horrible..."

"It's why we've brought you here...only you can defeat Voldemort and free us from him. It has to be you." Sirius muttered as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "You have to!"

"You kidnapped me! I'm here against my will...and I can't kill him again! The only reason I was able to last time is because I had help..."

"Then we'll help you this time." James muttered, his face determined. "Only you can do it."

"Will I be able to go home if I do?" Harry moved his gaze from James to Sirius and to Remus, they looked at each other uncertainly.

"We don't know." Remus said finally, shifting awkwardly. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough! I want to go home! I don't belong here...I'm dead in this time!"

"But we need you, Harry! You can't just abandon all these people can you?" Sirius waved an airy hand around and Harry looked at them.

"Are they Muggles?"

"Muggles, Muggleborns and Bloodtraitors." James said.

"I...I don't know...i really don't think I'll be able to..."

"Please." Sirius took his shoulders in both his hands and looked into his eyes, they were full of pleading and Harry closed his own with a sigh.

"You don't understand...you can't understand what it was like...I got so many people killed because they were fighting for me! I-I can't go through it again! I _can't_!"

"Are you really going to ignore this?" Sirius whispered, taking Harry's head in his hand and turning it in the direction of the kitchen, there was a huddle of small children, dirty and desolate as they curled around each other. "Their mother was killed not long after Voldemort rose to power, she worked for the ministry. Their father took them away from London but Voldemort doesn't forgive, he hunted them until he caught them and tortured their father until he clawed out his own eyes to ease the pain. They were forced to watch. We had to kill him to put him out of his misery, it was a mercy. You see that woman?" He pointed and Harry nodded slowly, feeling desperately sick. She was small and sleeping quietly in the corner, her hair was white and her face lined. "Her husband and brother were taken from their homes and used for games, they were tortured, forced to fight each other until one of them died...her brother murdered her husband while she screamed for them to stop and the Death Eaters laughed. The brother killed himself afterwards. That man, his mother was chained up onto the roof of his childhood home and burnt. That boy there watched his father blown to pieces, that girl was raped and mutilated...she's missing a hand and one eye, it was a curse so no magic can heal it..."

"Oh god...stop..." Harry whispered.

Sirius ignored him, pointing to an old couple, the man was drooling as the woman fed him from a shaking hand. It appeared to be soup but she was spilling more than she was getting into his mouth. "They used the Cruciatus curse on him until he went mad, their daughter attacked the Death Eaters responsible but was killed on sight. Those twins there, they used them in some sick experiments, to see if they felt the pain of the other...they went insane and the boy tried to bite into his own wrists...That couple over there..."

"Stop it!" Harry gasped, stumbling backwards and shaking his head. "I-I...I don't...I can't..."

"Sirius...that's enough." Remus said quietly.

"No, he needs the truth. He needs to see the reality! Remus' mother, you know she was Muggleborn?" harry nodded slowly, eyes wide. "When the Death Eaters got hold of her we could hear her screams from the block over, we tried to get there in time but..."

"They cut her to pieces..." Remus croaked, his face white and expressionless. "They abused her...called her names...b-because her son is...because I'm..." he shuddered. "My father was covered in blood and sobbing beside her body when we found them, he had tried to put her back together again...her head was in his hands...when I tried to pull him away he hit me. He hit me and told me to leave him...he cursed me and called me a demon, he told me it was my fault."

"It isn't." James said firmly. "He's mad with grief, he didn't know what he was saying..."

"He did." Remus whispered and smiled wonkily. "I'm a monster."

"No." Sirius snapped furiously. "We've discussed this, Moony."

"Yes...we have." Remus fell silent.

"May parents were safe for a while..." James said, he leaned against the peeling wall with his hands deep in his pockets. "I told them to disown me, I made sure they made it obvious and official. They pretended to support Voldemort until they managed to give themselves away by trying to protect Lily from some Death Eaters who had found her, they were giving her some food to take back to us...it was night time and the Death Eaters spotted them together..." he sighed. "The only mercy was that it was done quickly."

"So you see, Prongslet, we're desperate. We need your help, please."

Harry had no choice, his conscience would never allow him to simply walk away. "Alright...I'll...help you." He muttered.

Sirius smiled. "Brilliant!"

"We will owe you our lives, Harry." Remus replied.

"Thanks...I'm sure you can do it, if you're really my son it'll be a breeze." James said, smiling weakly.

"It won't." Harry muttered, frowning. "When do you want to start searching for the Horcruxes?"

"As soon as we've found the survivors of the Order." James said, "Come on, they're not here...but I know where they will be."

They left the safe-house and Apparated to a small village, it was almost as desolate as London, but the people were still there, tucked away in their neat little cottages. Harry stared around in shock, he knew the place. "Godrics Hollow!" he exclaimed. "I was born here..."

"You were? It's nice to think that Lily and I eventually got a place here...we always talked about doing it after the war." James' smile was nostalgic as he led them through the village, Harry could see the old war monument but instead of it turning into a statue of James, Lily and baby Harry, as they walked past they saw a tall figure with his wand raised in a gesture of dominance...Harry shuddered when he saw Lord Voldemorts stern face gazing back at him made of bronze.

The church's roof was falling in, but it had been covered with scrap metal and tarpaulins that cracked in the stiff breeze. Harry and the others approached the doors cautiously, Sirius removed his wand from his pocket and tapped it three times, paused and tapped again twice. The doors opened with creaks and dim light spilled towards them, they entered to find a typical village Norman church, except instead of pews in uniform lines there was empty floor, the odd sleeping bag or pile of blankets indicated human habitation. "Hello?" Sirius called, his voice echoing off of the thick stone walls and seeming to mock them all.

After a few moments a figure stepped into the dim candle light, it wore a long cloak and walked with a slight limp. "Who is it?" The voice was that of a woman and one Harry recognised instantly.

"Molly, it's us." Remus said softly.

Molly Weasley drew back her hood to reveal a younger looking face, her red hair was messy and she looked as if she had lost a lot of weight. "Remus! James! Sirius! Oh my! We all assumed..."

"That we were dead?" Sirius smiled. "No, we went on a mission set for us by Dumbledore...where is everyone?"

"There weren't many survivors, we lost nearly all of us that day."

"Who?" James asked.

"Fabien...a-and Gideon both...They died protecting Bill. Arthur and I also escaped because of their sacrifice...we also lost Dearborn, Aberforth, both Longbottom's and the McKinnon's...We're missing more."

"Shit...I'm sorry Molly..." James said and put a hand on her shoulder, she smiled weakly and shook her head.

"We're alive...most of our family is safe, for now." Harry was confused, he had thought the Weasley's had not been in the order because of their children. He didn't ask however, as Molly turned curious eyes to him. "And who is this?"

"This is..." James began.

"A relative of yours? He looks like you."

James smiled. "He's my son."

"What? B-But that's impossible! You're joking...?"

"No, our mission sent us to another dimension where my son survived but Lily and I didn't, he grew up to defeat Voldemort at the age of seventeen and is now here to help us."

"You defeated...at seventeen...?" Molly looked faint.

"I did but I had help." Harry said quietly. "My name's Harry potter, it's erm...nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: I am so, so sorry for not updating this sooner! I lost the thread of the story and could not get it back until recently! I will punish myself for such a transgression, I promise. :( I hope you can forgive me and enjoy this chapter... (The smut will be soon, I promise. Have patience!)

**Chapter Six**

The Church was quiet as Molly lead them through the echoing hall, near the dais at the end of it was a door, they went through it and found themselves in a small room full of battered looking people. "You're alive!" One man stood and it took a second for Harry to recognise him as Arthur Weasley, he strode over to them and took James' hand shaking it. "It's good to see you, we feared the worst."

"Thanks, we had a mission set for us by Dumbledore...we had no choice but to leave...We're sorry."

"No...it's good that you're alive." Arthur smiled as he turned to face Harry, he wore his horn rimmed glasses but he had a full head of hair and less lines on his face as he held out his hand. "Arthur Weasley, it's nice to meet you...?"

"Harry." Harry said taking his hand and shaking it. It was very strange to be introduced to people he had known for years as if they were strangers.

"Right, we need to know who managed to escape." Sirius said, suddenly all business.

"Alastor Moody did, but he's not here right now...There's our sons and a few others but our numbers were drastically reduced."

"I see...Should we wait for Moody to return?" Remus asked James who shrugged.

"Waiting won't do much good...we should get on it as soon as possible."

"Right." Sirius turned to Harry. "Where is the first Horcrux?"

Harry considered. "Well...in my time the locket was in a cave on the south coast somewhere but...but your brother got hold of it, he swapped the lockets before he died and gave Kreacher the task of destroying it, when he couldn't he hid it in Grimmauld Place."

Sirius considered for a while. "Then that's where we'll start."

"But not before getting some food inside you, Sirius, you're too skinny." Molly said sternly.

"I eat..."

"Not enough, and you Harry, you are a rake..."

Harry smiled. "I've always been skinny and small."

"That's no excuse, sit down and I'll see if we can spare any rations for you."

Harry allowed himself be mothered with better grace than Sirius who complained loudly that he didn't need to be babied. "I'm a grown up, Molly, you don't have to treat me like one of your sons..."

"I do, because if I don't you'd starve. Now Sirius, stop complaining and help me light this fire."

Sirius sighed and waved his wand at an area of dark soot where there had obviously been magical fires before, it went up with a whoosh noise and yellow flames crackled merrily as Molly set a small cauldron over it on a metal stand. The rations turned out to be withered vegetables and lean pieces of rabbit caught with Magic, Mrs. Weasley made a stew of them and as it was bubbling over the fire they spoke. "Where's Bill, Charlie, Percy and the twins?" James asked as Molly stirred the food.

"They're with Andromeda who's looking after them." Arthur replied. "They were getting bored stuck here so we had to find some form of entertainment before they blew the place up." He smiled fondly. "They're good children, but those twins are already causing trouble."

Sirius grinned fondly. "I like those two, they're only brats but they have guts."

Molly sighed and shook her head as she shed her cloak, Harry saw that she was very heavily pregnant and he realised with a jolt that the child in her womb was Ron. "I honestly don't know how I'm going to cope with them when they're teenagers...Bill is bad enough when he refuses to cut his hair."

"Long hair is cool, Molly." Sirius said with a grin as he swept his own from his face. "It's fashionable."

"Yes, but not practical..." Molly eyed Sirius' hair shrewdly. "If you would just let me trim yours..."

"No." Sirius grabbed his hair in his hand. "I will never allow you or your wand near my hair, Molly. As much as I like you, I don't trust you around hair."

James sniggered and Remus smiled softly. "I could do it you know." He said with an evil grin.

"You did at Hogwarts if I remember correctly, Jamie. I woke up bald one day...it took forever to grow it back!" Sirius exclaimed dramatically, James roared with laughter.

"Sirius, it took an hour for you to grow it back." Remus said gently.

"Yeah, forever! I couldn't leave the dorm for an _hour_!"

"Ah, come on, let me give it another go!" James said, suddenly leaping at Sirius who shouted as they crashed to the floor, Harry giggled as they wrestled and play fought until Sirius had pinned James to the floor, their limbs tangled and Sirius grinned triumphantly. "Let me up!"

"Yield?" Sirius asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"No!"

"Then you'll stay here."

"Shit...Alright! Alright! I yield, Siri..."

"Excellent, you know the words."

James grimaced. "Please release me O' great Lord Black..." He muttered.

Sirius laughed and released him. "There we go, it's not so hard is it?"

James sat up rubbing his wrists where Sirius had held them down with his knees. "Bastard." He hissed, his face flushed with humiliation.

"It's good for you."

As they waited for the food to cook Harry watched Sirius trying to stack little stones on Remus' head as he read a book and seemed determined to ignore him, James spoke to Arthur about their children and the one they had on the way.

"Molly's hoping for a girl, we have so many boys it would be a nice change." Arthur said softly.

James looked at Harry and smiled sadly. "I had a boy." He whispered and turned back to Arthur. "A little boy..."

"We heard...I'm so sorry, James."

"No...no it's alright. I'll get my revenge, even if it kills me."

When they had eaten Sirius stood. "We have to go, we still have a mission to complete." He said.

Molly nodded. "I wish you all the best of luck, please, don't do anything rash...we have lost so much."

James put a hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled. "Ah, but now we have a secret weapon, Molly."

"Weapon?" Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I'm not special! Why won't anyone believe me?!"

"You're more special than you give yourself credit for, Prongslet." Sirius said firmly. "Only you can save us from this evil, only you can stop our world from being destroyed."

"No pressure then, huh?" Harry muttered with a sigh.

"Here, take these with you. There are a few healing potions, ingredients like willow bark and the likes and some other useful bits." Molly said as she pushed a bag into Remus' hands.

"But what about you? What if you need it?"

"You are all far more important, remember what Dumbledore used to say?" Arthur replied with a strained smile.

"For the Greater Good." James said tensely.

Harry bit his tongue on his retort, he hated the saying, but it held some truth.

Outside the village was silent, their footsteps echoed creepily as they exited the old church, they each kept a hand in their pockets and gripped their wands tightly. Harry chewed his lower lip as his eyes darted around, gazing at silent buildings where the windows looked down on them like empty eye sockets.

"It's like some kind of post-apocalyptic world..." He whispered hoarsely.

"Tell me about it." James replied, he was wearing a frown and seemed just as nervous as his son.

After a while their footsteps and breathing were the only sounds, not even the animals could be heard. Harry kept glancing behind him, his hand trembled in his pocket as he tried to calm his nerves, but it was no use. The lack of life seemed to sap him of courage, the night seemed heavy, weighing him down like a weighty shroud. He swallowed. There was a crack and he spun on his heels to see Sirius swearing softly.

"Sorry..." He muttered guiltily. "I trod on something. _Lumos_." He lit the tip of his wand and aimed it at the ground and they clearly saw what had made that crack noise; bones. They were dry and brittle, the skull obviously human. James hissed air through his teeth as he lit his own wand and searched the cobbled street, there were more. Skeletons everywhere. "Shit..." Sirius breathed.

"These weren't here before we left or when we arrived here an hour ago..." Remus replied.

"But they're old..." James replied.

"Maybe...maybe they've been..." Harry turned his gaze to the graveyard and his wand tip glowed even brighter, the graveyard was little more than churned up mud and broken stone. "Someone dug them up...but why?" Harry's frown darkened.

Sirius began backing away quickly. "We need to get out of here." He muttered, his eyes darting this way and that, fear visible on his handsome face.

"We do indeed." James replied, grabbing Harry's arm in a tight grip.

"But why?" Harry asked. "They're just bones...bones can't hurt us."

"Oh can't they?" Remus lifted his wand and pointed it at the statue, around it stood a group of figures, each of them dripping with rotting flesh. Their eyes were empty, those who did have them still were white, other's had missing limbs, hands made from white bone or skull showing through their corrupted flesh.

"Infiri." James muttered, backing away and drawing Harry after him.

Sirius spun around. "There's more." He waved his wand and a light flew into the sky, igniting the small village square and illuminating the corpses. They were trapped.

They stood back to back, all facing outwards as the terrible creatures advanced, shuffling slowly towards them, sensing the life within them and the heat. Then it clicked. Harry almost slapped himself, the answer was always there. "Heat and light!" He said and raised his wand, aiming at a pile of thatch that had collapsed from the pub. "_Confringo_!" He said and there was a _whoomf_ as the old, dry thatch went up into dancing golden flames, the Infiri began backing away as Harry moved to stand with the fire at his back.

"Brilliant Harry! Let's go." Sirius grabbed his upper arm tightly and Harry felt him spin on the spot.

"No...wai-..." But he was dragged forcefully into a tight, suffocating tube.

They reappeared in London, grass was beneath Harry's trainers and as James released him he stumbled into a nearby tree with a small gasp. "Why? Why didn't we stay and..."

"Because we have to survive! Because _you_ have to survive!" Sirius said softly, he had his back to a tree and his wand gripped in his hand.

Harry couldn't argue so he pushed it from his mind, he could only hope that the Weasley's lived. His eyes finally took in the surrounding area and with a jolt he recognised the houses standing opposite. He gazed at the door of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, the surrounding houses were abandoned and empty, their windows gazing blindly down at them and reminding Harry of the dead eyes of the Infiri. He shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself. Sirius looked up at his childhood home before stepping free of the trees. "Come on." He whispered. "I want to get this over with..."

The corridor was dusty, Harry could taste it on his tongue. He lifted his wand and looked around, the portraits were ruined, large holes appeared in the very centres, large rents gouged the canvas' as if some beast had come in and torn at them with claws. He felt mildly ill as a scent reached him from further in, Sirius moved slowly, his feet silent on the carpet and his eyes full of darkness. The others followed close behind. "I'll wait here to warn you if anyone's coming." Remus whispered from the shadows. James nodded and moved forward, his wand held aloft as Harry glanced back once to see Remus leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

They moved on, the kitchen was empty as they entered and Harry could see the same claw marks gouging the tabletop and walls. Sirius ran a finger across them gently. "Werewolves..." He whispered.

"Yeah..." James replied, he adjusted his glasses and watched Sirius kneel down by a cupboard.

"This was where Kreacher slept, I suppose if he's hidden it anywhere it would be here..." He opened the door which creaked loudly in the brooding silence. Harry flinched and James glanced around nervously, they were all on edge. Finally Sirius drew away, his face a mask of disgust. "Nothing but a disgusting blanket." He sighed and swept dusty hair from his face, his eyes moved around the room before he shrugged. "Let's try the drawing room, there's loads of shite in there that it might have gotten mixed up in."

They went to the drawing room and pushed open the door it creaked softly and Sirius uttered a shocked gasp before stepping back, Harry halted and James hissed air through his teeth. "Merlin..." He breathed.

It was the smell that hit Harry first, it smelt like rotting meat then the sound of flies filled the air and Sirius turned away, his face white in the wavering wand light. "J-Jamie...I-I..."

"Go wait out there, Siri." Sirius nodded, he was beginning to look a little green as he sat down in the hall with his hands in his hair. Harry looked at him in concern before he felt James' hand on his shoulder. "I need you to identify it..." He said softly and Harry swallowed before nodding.

When Harry entered the room he had to cover his nose as it was assaulted by the smell of rot, he choked back a gag and looked around. It was horrific. The scene was like something from a Muggle Horror movie, the walls were battered, great gouges rent the plaster. The wall paper hung from the walls like bits of flaccid skin, the paintings had been torn and their occupants gone. Harry could clearly see blood spattering the walls, none of it fresh so it had dried like rust to the walls and carpet. In the very centre of the room were corpses. Harry couldn't tell how many as they were all dismembered, there were several heads, an arm lay feet from Harry's trainers and he could see a child's foot lying by a shattered cupboard. Most of it was bones, but what little flesh was on them was crawling in flies and maggots, he gagged and closed his eyes. He knew he had to get used to scenes like this, not just in this dimension but because he was now an Auror and that needed a strong stomach but it was hard. Slowly he forced his eyes open and saw his father rummaging in the cupboards, he appeared to be used to the smell and sights of mutilated corpses, the thought scared Harry slightly. He pushed forward and began helping James find the Horcrux.

They searched the whole room before Harry leaned back on one hand and sighed, he was covered in dust but the smell had finally soaked into the background and he had become used to it enough for his stomach to calm. Slowly he turned his head, catching movement from the corner of his eye, he jumped to his feet and shuffled backwards, terror ripping through him as he raised his wand. The mass of corpses was heaving...

James moved to Harry's side and they began inching towards the door, finally the pile moved. Harry acted before he had time to consider what he was doing, he flicked his wand and a spell hit the pile. They collapsed to reveal the largest rat Harry had ever seen, it was brown and covered in thick hair. It lifted itself onto its hind legs and sniffed at them, James pulled a disgusted face and sent a curse at it, it squealed and ran off towards a hole in the wall. "Just a rat." He muttered as if angry with himself.

When they were certain the room wasn't hiding the Horcrux they moved on. Sirius rejoined them and they searched every room, each one was in the same state as everywhere else, it appeared that this was a hideout for Werewolves at the full moon. Luckily they were fed in the Drawing Room only. "Why would they change here?" Harry asked as they searched Sirius' old room, he tried to distract himself from the prickling of fear on his neck as if hot breath tickled it.

"Because the Death Eaters have a 'Bag and Tag' system." Sirius replied, ruthlessly throwing stuff over his shoulder every so often and frowning darkly.

"They capture every known Werewolf, tag them magically so they can hunt them...They kill them like animals and put their pelts on display in their homes...It's a sport." James continued as he shifted Sirius' bed out the way.

"That's...disgusting..." Harry muttered.

"Yeah, they keep some, mostly females, in houses like this one and feed prisoners to them...some of those prisoners survive and turn and give them more sport." Sirius said, he paused as he opened his wardrobe. "So...This is what happened to the little fucker." He said and Harry moved over to see what he was looking at.

"Oh...god..." Harry recoild in pity and revulsion. Kreacher was lying on the floor of the Wardrobe in a nest of Sirius' old rotten clothes, he was curled on his side in a ball. His skin was thin and his bones showed through it, his ears had been nibbled on by rats and other vermin. "That's...that's so sad..." He said softly as pity filled his eyes and he thought of Dobby with his grave with a view of the sea.

Sirius poked the corpse with the toe of his boot, as he did so he disturbed more maggots and flies which flew into the air and buzzed around their heads. Slowly he bent down and poked the old elf over with the tip of his wand, Kreacher's eyes were missing and had been replaced by huge amounts of white eggs. Harry gagged again and looked away. "Harry?" Sirius asked softly, his voice hard and cold.

"Y-Yeah...?"

"The locket...is it large, gold with an ornate 'S' on it?"

Harry felt his heart jolt in his chest and slowly he turned, his eyes landed on the elf and widened. There it lay. Slytherin's locket. It was clutched in Kreacher's tiny hands, he held it against his chest like a child with a teddy bear. Harry lowered his head for a moment. "Yes...that's it. That's the Horcrux."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Six**

_From their graves I heard the fallen  
Above the battle cry  
By that bridge near the border  
There were many more to die_

_**Thin Lizzy, "Emerald", Jailbreak.**_

Ron gazed at Kingsley through slightly narrowed eyes. "You're joking...right?"

"I wish I was." The Minister shuffled some papers on his desk absently as he sighed and looked at a photograph, it was of the boy who had gone missing. "They know Harry is not here and it appears that their numbers are swelling. They want a war, Ron and they will have it by any means necessary."

"Shit...then...what do we do? How do we stop them?"

Kingsley shook his head slowly, his melodic voice failing to sooth Ron's fluttering nerves. "We cannot. We don't have the man power to prevent a war so soon after the previous one and without Harry to ease the public's nerves we could have a full uprising on our hands."

"But we can't get Harry back...He's stuck until he completes his mission."

"Indeed...We can only attempt to strengthen our position. I want you to go with a team I will hand pick and go to one of their known hideouts, I want it destroyed. We must attack before they do, hopefully this will give them pause and tell the public we are on top of the issue."

"Alright...I'll tell Hermione..."

"And Ron?"

Ron turned to see Kingsley looking graver than before, he thought it was an impossible feat but his stomach dropped even lower. "I would recommend that Miss Granger leave the country, she is in great danger not only because of her birth but because she is a friend of Harry's...Unfortunately I need you to stay here and help us as you helped Harry last time...If I could I would also send you away."

Ron paled slightly and swallowed. "Hermione won't go...and neither would I. Our place is here. We have to wait for Harry, even if that means risking our lives...I'll set up something with her...if it comes to it we'll use the Fidelius Charm..."

"Be wary, Ron, it has failed before."

"I know." He turned and left the office.

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

Hermione gazed at Ron calmly for a moment. They sat on the sofa in their house, Ron had just explained what had transpired between himself and the Minister for magic. "So...The Death Eaters have discovered that Harry's not around and their taking this chance to take over..."

"Not only that but our spies have told us that the source of the magical fluctuations were people appearing from another dimension...these people are Death Eaters. Their ranks are swelling with the ones we killed and apparently even the Dementors guarding Azkaban are acting oddly..."

"I knew the Ministry should have taken them off that duty." Hermione muttered distractedly before she sighed. "What are we going to do?"

"I...I'm being sent on a mission to destroy a known Death Eater hide out. I won't be gone long but while I am gone I want you to use the Fidelius Charm and protect yourself...Is there anyone we can trust enough to use as Secret Keeper?"

Hermione smiled. "Well, we've got your whole family for starters and then there's Luna, Neville and everyone else who helped us in the Battle at Hogwarts..."

Ron considered for a while. "They'll suspect all my family members of hiding you...so, what about Neville?"

Hermione nodded. "I'm sure he'll do it."

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

"Really?" Neville's eyes were wide as he stared at his unexpected guests. "You want me to...I'm not sure...what if I can't tell anyone? What If I..."

"Neville, we trust you." Hermione said and smiled. "You killed the last of Voldemort's Horcrux's with the Sword of Gryffindor, you're one of our closest friends."

"Yeah mate, you did something we couldn't. You're better than you ever give yourself credit for." Ron insisted. "And after what happened with your parents I doubt you'll betray us."

Neville shook his head. "No. I never would." He said firmly. "Alright, I'll do it..."

"Thank you, we're in your debt." Hermione said.

Neville's home was nice and comfortable, it reminded Hermione and Ron of Gryffindor Tower and the sense of nostalgia was almost painful as they gazed around the living room. There were pictures of people covering the walls, mostly of Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny and the rest of Dumbledore's Army but there were some of two people who could only have been Neville's parents and a stern old woman they knew to be his Grandmother. "Well, I suppose I'd better be off then..." Ron stood and rubbed his hair absently. "I have to work."

"Be careful..." Hermione stood and wrapped her arms around him, he slipped his own around her waist and their noses touched. They smiled at each other for a moment before Ron kissed his girlfriend lightly on the lips, Hermione parted her own and they deepened the kiss.

After a moment Neville coughed uncomfortably and they broke apart. "I'll see you soon."

"Yes." Hermione reluctantly released him and watched him say farewell to Neville before walking out the door. "Be careful." She whispered softly.

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

Harry stared at the locket. It sat looking innocent on a table, yet he could feel the power of the thing trapped within. He shivered remembering what it had cost them to get it in his own dimension. After they had found the locket they had beat a hasty retreat and left the old house to moulder where it was, Sirius never looked back as they had Disapperated. They now were hiding in an abandoned warehouse the Order used as a hideout, it was furnished but cold and allowed the wind to creep into the bones. When Harry had left his own time it had been summer, here it seemed to be eternally winter. James had told him that the sky no longer lightened to more than a steely grey over London, and the giant skull was forever present. Voldemort had set himself up in Downing Street where the Muggle Prime Minister used to be, he conducted his business through lackeys he had cursed or threatened into serving him.

Harry sighed and shifted in his chair, he was sat with his legs over the sides and his arms resting on the back of it. The Horcrux taunted him from where it lay, he could feel it hissing to him and though it was his imagination he thought he could hear Voldemort talking softly in Parseltongue. He shuddered and was glad when Sirius appeared to break his depressing train of thought, he turned his head as Sirius sat at his side and gazed in wonder at the object.

"So...Slytherin's locket, huh?" He said and reached out a hand, slowly he picked it up and turned it over. "Heavy...must be solid gold..." he bounced it in his palm. "I am holding a peice of Voldemort's soul." He breathed and his eyes glittered. "How do we destroy it?"

"We need a Basilisk fang or something of equal destructive power, it needs to be destroyed beyond repair." Harry returned his eyes to the locket, it seemed to entrance him. "There's only one place I know where a Basilisk is hiding..."

"Where?!" Sirius looked up at him, eyes wide.

"Hogwarts...the Chamber of Secrets."

"Are you trying to tell me that...that place actually exists?!"

"Yeah, I killed the Basilisk down there when I was twelve."

Sirius could only stare at Harry, he spoke as if he was talking about the weather. His voice was calm and humble and he couldn't detect any trace of a lie. "And you continue to insist that you're not powerful...You're...you're exceptional! But then, with parents like yours it's not surprising really." Sirius smiled and leaned across Harry to return the Horcrux to its place on the table, to do so he had to lean across Harry and he got a waft of an intoxicating scent. Sirius smelt like dark chocolate and coffee and cinnamon, Harry closed his eyes and felt a hand on his shoulder. The touch was light and cold fingers brushed the skin on his neck, he couldn't help but shiver.

"I always had help." Harry said quietly as he opened his eyes and, as he had expected, saw Sirius' face close to his own. "Always. I never did any of that stuff on my own...well, except...except kill Quirril with my bare hands but...but that was only because Voldemort was hiding inside him and when he left it was too much for Quirril's body and he died..."

"Even if you did have help, Harry, you did more than most of the Order put together as far as facing Voldemort all those times and living goes. I really think you can do it. I know that you can destroy him again."

Harry sighed. "I don't know Sirius...I don't have the advantage of the wands or all the Deathly Hallows...I don't know if I can destroy him again..."

Sirius leaned closer, he slipped a finger under Harry's chin so they were looking into each other's eyes. "I know you can, Harry." He breathed and slowly his head tipped sideways, Harry's eyes widened in shock as soft lips met his own. The kiss was brief and light, Sirius' breath tickled his face as he drew away slightly. There was silence that stretched out and span into infinity, Sirius moved in again, this time adding a little more pressure to the kiss. Harry's eyes fell half closed as he let the kiss happen, it was odd. He had never kissed another man before but this felt natural, it felt less awkward than his first kiss with Cho and was much more comfortable than his first kiss with Ginny had been. It was so easy to let his body relax and let the feel of Sirius' lips against his own wash away all cares. He felt Sirius' lips part slightly and his tongue slid out and lapped at Harry's own, he opened his mouth and reached out with his tongue. They touched and Harry tasted Sirius, he shivered and gasped softly before suddenly something clattered on the floor.

"What in Merlin's name are you...?! Sirius!"

Sirius jerked away and turned to look at Remus who was gaping at the scene in shock, he had dropped a cauldron full of books on the floor. "Remus..." Sirius smiled easily, releasing Harry who was crimson with embarrassment.

"What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about how Harry kissed..." Sirius smirked at Remus who shook his head and grabbed his friend by the shoulders.

"You idiot! Stop seducing everything on two legs! Harry is important, we don't have time for this."

"There's always time for 'this' Remus..." Sirius said irritably as he stood.

"You know what happened last time you..."

"I don't need reminding, Remus." Sirius' shoulders stiffened and Harry frowned. "I know what happened...I-I was...I was there..."

"I know, I'm sorry...I worry about you..." Remus sighed and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder, he squeezed gently. "I don't want you getting hurt anymore."

"I won't...I promise." Sirius sighed, he seemed to deflate. "I'm sorry Harry...I got caught up in the moment..."

"I-I...It's...alright...I suppose..."

Sirius glanced at him, his silver eyes dark with remembered pain. "His name was Brandon..." He sighed and closed his eyes as he wrapped one arm around himself. "I...I was...attached to him...we were lovers."

"Y-You're...?!" Harry began, his eyes widening.

"Gay? Yeah, took me a long time to figure that one out though." He smiled softly. "It was Brandon who made me realise it, he was a joker...like James. He used to go around school laughing so loudly the whole world seemed to brighten...he joined us when we joined the Order, we lived together with Remus for while until..." Sirius broke off.

"Until Bellatrix Lestrange caught him." Remus whispered. "She tortured him in front of Sirius, binding him with magic so he was helpless to stop her."

"He was mad by the time she finished with him...white hair and empty eyes...I-I can still hear his screams in my sleep..." Sirius shivered and sighed softly. "Then...then she...she used magic to cut off his limbs...one by one...I-I watched...I couldn't look away because Rudolphus was holding me still. I watched and heard him screaming. I was covered in his blood and he was still alive by the time she reached his head...j-just a torso...that's all he was...H-he looked...looked at me...she kept him alive with magic until the v-very end...he was begging me...b-begging me to stop her...I-I couldn't...I..." Sirius groaned and held himself tightly as Remus dragged him into a rough embrace. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I just..."

"Hush, it's alright." Remus whispered as Harry watched in horror, his mouth hung open slightly as Remus guided Sirius into a chair. "After that Sirius was never the same, for some reason Bellatrix let him escape, we found him in the house...in a room and clutching his lovers corpse. He wasn't crying or screaming but he couldn't speak either. James and I...we tried to help him but it was Lily who finally managed to get him to let go of his lovers hand..." Remus glanced at Sirius who had fallen silent and was gazing at the wall blankly. "Lily helped him home where she bathed him and made sure he was warm. For weeks he was silent and he wouldn't even move, I thought...I thought we'd lost him for good but one day Lily got him to speak and since then he's...he's changed." Remus sighed. "I'm sorry Harry, you didn't really need to know this. I just think that starting a relationship with Sirius is a bad idea..."

Harry merely sat there, it was difficult to try and digest what was going on and it hurt him more than he thought possible to know just how badly Sirius had been wounded.

"I'm going to fucking kill him." Sirius whispered finally, he looked down at his hands and Harry saw what he thought was a scar on his wrist, on closer inspection he realised it was a tattoo. The ink was crimson and Harry had to turn his head slightly to see that it was the rune for revenge. "I'm going to kill him for what happened to Brandon, I'm going to kill him for what happened to Lily and I'm going to kill him for all the others he's hurt." Sirius' eyes were like the sharpest steel and his hands clenched into fists. "I'll do it even if it's the last thing I do."

"We know, Siri, we know." Remus muttered and put his hand on Sirius' shoulder. "It's why we fight, Harry. For ourselves, for our friends who we've lost to Voldemort's blood lust and for the innocents who can't fight for themselves."

Harry nodded. "I understand." He said thinking of all he had lost and he felt a sudden fierceness fill his chest, it hurt it was so strong. He wouldn't lose anyone else ever again, he would die rather than risk having those he loved hurt. "Trust me."


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Well, if you're wandering why I am stealing idea's from actual events well...JK Rowling did make many references to the first and second world wars in Canon so let's just say I'm embellishing that...I hope you enjoy yet another very dark chapter. I am actually loving writing this, I will continue to try and get chapters out regularly but I am currently writing some other things so I may be irregular either way I promise to get them written, even if it takes me a year. :p (It won't btw...lol) Enjoy and thank you so much for the reviews and interest in this story, even if it IS horrific. (I will recommend you listen to Henryk Górecki - Symphony Nº3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) while reading this, it really will lend atmosphere)

**Chapter Seven**

_Deaf, dumb, and blind, you just keep on pretending__  
__That everyone's expendable and no-one has a real friend.__  
__And it seems to you the thing to do would be to isolate the winner__  
__And everything's done under the sun,__  
__And you believe at heart, everyone's a killer._

_**Pink Floyd, 'Dogs' Album; 'Animals'.**_

"So..." James leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair as he spoke to the ceiling. "Where to next?"

Harry gazed down at the map of Britain, his eyes swept it and he spotted a name of a place he had only been to in the Pensieve. "Little Hangleton." He said softly, resting a finger on the little dot. "The ring..." _And the Resurrection stone..._ He thought to himself, he would avoid telling them about that particular detail if he could help it. "Once we've got all the Horcruxes we'll go to Hogwarts and I can get you into the Chamber of Secrets..."

"You're serious about that then? You're really going to duel a Basilisk?" Sirius asked softly, his eyes wide.

"It's the only thing I can think of that will destroy the Horcruxes..."

"And if the giant snake kills you?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Then...then I suppose you're on your own." Harry replied, his eyes as hard as gemstones. "I'm no stranger to life and death situations...i've already died once before."

"But I have a feeling that this time it will be a little more permanent." Remus said, he turned his eyes to the map. "But we'll worry about that when the time comes."

"Yeah..." James rose from his seat. "Let's do this."

XXXHPSBXXXHPSBXXX

The four of them apparated just outside the village, it was dark and the crescent moon hung in the sky surrounded by tiny stars. Remus looked up at it briefly and sighed before lifting the hood of his cloak up to cover his face. James squeezed his shoulder once before turning to Harry who was looking around as if confused.

"Well, this is it..." Sirius whispered, his voice hoarse and seemingly much too loud in the heavy silence.

"I...I don't know where we are in relation to the cottage..." Harry muttered softly, his eyes scanned the area. He had wanted to take them as close as possible to the house but where there should have been trees there was little more than a wasteland, he looked up at the hill and he could see the soft glow of what could only be fires. "What is this place?"

James looked up at the steep slope. "A place where they take Muggles and Muggleborns and even sometimes Bloodtraitors to punish them...they're forced to work, to build things for the New Empire..."

"A concentration camp?" Harry asked, taking a step forward. He remembered, as if from a previous life, lessons from his Muggle Primary school concerning the Second World War and the terrible things the Nazi's had put their prisoners through.

"Yes, almost...but this place...it's worse..." Remus said as James and Sirius exchanged confused glances.

"Let's go..." James whispered and they began walking, each had a hand resting upon their wands as their eyes darted around nervously. Harry watched his father walk, the wind blew and took hold of his cloak. It whipped it around him like a black shadow dancing in the moonlight. Harry was almost frozen to the spot as Sirius caught up with his friend and Remus took his place at James' other side, he took a sharp breath of cold air. For the first time he was fully appreciating just why people held the Marauder's in such high regard, the power radiated from them as it had when Dumbledore had been angry. They were strong, stronger than Harry thought he ever would be. He felt a shiver of excitement run down his spine and felt a smile on his face as he caught up with them.

They crested the hill and Harry gasped, his eyes widened and the colour drained from his face as he gazed out across what should have been a village. Huge fences had been erected and there were a myriad of small, low built dwellings with thatched roofs. Chimneys rose above it and spewed smoke from their tips like giant cigars, it was a bizarre mixture of Wizard Medieval design and Muggle Industrial revolution. Massive fire pits had been built in the very centre of the strange encampment, their flames rising and turning everything a bloody orange. Harry felt a hand brush his own and he looked up to see Sirius gazing at him sadly. "There everywhere now, Harry..." He breathed and Harry returned his eyes to the camp, he saw the entrance was guarded by several guards wearing long robes in black, even from where he stood he could see their masks reflecting the light of the flames. They looked like demons. He shivered and finally his eyes landed upon the only original building left, he sucked in a breath and pointed.

"There...that's the old Gaunt house..."

James followed Harry's gaze and his eyes narrowed. "That would be why it's all fenced off and under the heaviest guard..." He said.

"It's also going to be surrounded by heavy Magical enchantments..." Remus said.

"Then how do we get to it?" Sirius muttered.

"Well, for starters we have to get inside..." Harry said slowly, an idea began to form...a reckless, stupid and dangerous idea. "I...I think I have a plan but...but it's going to be dangerous..."

"Of course, we didn't come on this little adventure thinking it was going to be a holiday, did we? I didn't even bring a picnic." Sirius grinned, his eyes sparkled dangerously. "Danger is my middle name, Mr. Potter."

"It's not...it's Orion." James said absently, he appeared to have missed some of the conversation.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I know that, you prat."

"So, Harry, what's your plan?" Remus asked.

Harry took a shuddery breath and stepped forward, he dropped his cloak and began methodically ripping up his clothes. He smeared dirt on his face and pulled out a knife from his sock, a knife he had taken to carrying with him in case he was ever disarmed. With a tiny wince he cut his palm and smeared blood on his face and messed up his hair. Then he looked at his father. "They want you." He said slowly. "Transfigure my eye colour..."

"Wha-no!" Sirius said sharply, he stepped forward but James stuck out his arm. "Jamie, you can't seriously be thinking..."

"What choice do we have?" He said softly his eyes on his son. "Harry knows what to expect, he is the only one of us who has ever encountered these Horcruxes before...he's the only one who has even the slightest chance of getting his hands on it." He lifted his wand and pointed it into Harry's face. Silently he transfigured it so that his eyes turned from Lily's green to his own hazel. It was very surreal to be standing there and gazing back at himself but he pushed it aside. "Be careful and when you get a chance let us in."

"Yeah..." Harry muttered returning his gaze to the camp. "I'll steal a wand and send up sparks, that'll be your signal."

"Go it." James took Harry's wand from him and nodded. Together the Marauders watched Harry walking down the hill, he soon disappeared into the weedy little trees that were all that remained of the woodland surrounding the cottage.

Harry stumbled on a branch as he slipped in a puddle, he steadied himself by grabbing a nearby tree. He continued walking reminding himself repeatedly that it was for the greater good. He thought of the people he could help if he did this, he thought of his parents back in his own time and closed his eyes for a moment before continuing onward. He turned away from the main gates of the camp and began sneaking around the side of the fence, he made sure he could be spotted but tried to avoid making it so obvious. Finally he dropped to his knees and began pretending to cut through the fencing. That was when an alarm sounded. He jumped but when it did he smiled to himself as shouts rose from the guard towers.

"You there! What are you doing?!"

Harry turned when he heard that voice, it was easy to look scared as his heart hammered in his chest and he backed against the fencing. He was surrounded by wands, all pointed at his heart. He swallowed nervously as one man walked to him, he grabbed his face in a hard, gloved hand. "Get me the list of rebels still in action!" He snapped at his comrades. A book was soon brought to him and he took it and began looking through the pages...finally he stopped. He moved his eyes from the picture to Harry's face and back again. "Well, well, well..." He breathed, his excitement was palpable. "Looks like we caught ourselves our number one Undesirable!" He chuckled and grinned, Harry could see a pockmarked face beneath the silver skull mask. Mutters swept the gathered guards. "James Potter! Everyone thought you were dead but no body was found..." He chuckled and grabbed Harry's face again, his fingers dug into his cheeks. "Get this one to solitary and call the Dark Lord!"

"Yes sir!" Two men ran off into the night and Harry felt cold filling his chest, the very last thing he needed was for Voldemort to make an appearance before he was ready to face him.

Harry was grabbed and dragged towards the gates, he chanced a glance back over his shoulder and spotted movement in the shadows. He was bound from head to foot in magical chains and lifted into the air for all to see. He suddenly felt that his plan was a very, very bad idea.

James watched as they ordered men to go and call Voldemort, he hissed air through his teeth. "I hope this was part of his plan..." He whispered.

"I really doubt it, Jamie." Sirius replied from his side, they looked at each other with worry in their faces. "He looked pretty worried to me."

"You should have told him." Remus hissed, fear in his eyes. "You should have told him we were wanted that desperately...you should have told him what we've done!"

James bit down hard on his lower lip. "Shit!" He swore furiously. "I just...I didn't want him to hate me...or distrust us..."

"And what did you think would happen when he discovered the truth, James?" Remus sighed and rubbed at his eyes. He made to stand. "I'll give myself up...I can..."

"No!" Sirius pulled him back down roughly by the scruff of his robes, his fist tangled in his hair and he pulled Remus to his side. "None of us are giving up! Promise me, Remus, no matter what happens you will never, ever give up!"

Remus turned his eyes to his friends, he looked utterly exhausted. "I don't know how long I can do it." He breathed and Sirius pulled him into a rough embrace, James watched them. "It's killing me..."

"I know. It kills all of us but Remus...if we're going to free this world from terror we have to make some sacrifices..."

"I know...I know I just...They were innocents, Sirius..."

James looked away, he stood and leaned against the stunted tree. He gazed at the camp and saw, by the gates several bodies hung up for all to see. They were hung from the towers, arms stretched to either sides of them and slowly James frowned as Torches passed beneath them. The firelight highlighted them. "Red hair..." He gasped, his eyes widening. "Red hair...S-Sirius...Sirius..." He pointed as his friends moved their eyes to the illuminated gates.

"No..." Sirius breathed. "No..."

"W-we're...we're the last..." Remus whispered and fell to his knees, he covered his face with both hands and sat perfectly still. In the silence surrounding them they could only hear their rough breathing.

Harry was carried beneath the two watch towers, as they passed them he looked up and what he saw made him feel a wave of horror so thick it clogged his throat. He couldn't even scream. Molly Weasley hung beside her husband and children, their bright hair obvious in the light of fire and wand. Bill Weasley, with his long hair covering his face and hiding it from view, only a child. Fred and George Weasley strung up beside each other, their blood spattering the walls beneath their tiny bare feet, only three years old. Harry's breathing hitched painfully in his chest as he passed Arthur with his eyes gazing ahead blankly, already flies crawled into his mouth and across his eyes. "No..." Harry whispered, he felt a wave of intense guilt quickly followed by the urge to scream, he choked it back with immense difficulty and forced his eyes away.

"See them did ya? Well, what you see next will really get you going...Call it a gift from the Dark Lord..."

Harry lowered his head and closed his eyes but when they stopped he couldn't stop them from opening. He was confronted by a tall spire, bodies were hung around it like grotesque tinsel on a Christmas tree, he gazed up at the first body and he went cold.

Lily Potter's body had been well preserved; her face looked as sweet in death as she had in life. Her clothes had been torn from her so she hung naked, her hair tumbling around her face and her eyes gazing blankly ahead of her, her lips parted slightly as if she was about to speak. Harry's eyes moved to her stomach and he almost vomited, it had been ripped open to reveal the white line of her spine. Blood covered her skin, crimson against the white marble-like quality of it. Harry's breathing hitched as he gazed at his mother. It was worse than watching her die inside his head. It was worse than listening to her screams every time a Dementor came near, it was worse than having to watch his parents die again and again in his dreams...he choked on a sob and felt the vicious burn of tears in his eyes. The thought that this was not really his mother didn't enter his mind, the thoughts that his own mother was buried in a sweet little graveyard in Godrics Hollow didn't occur to him.

He heard laughter echoing through his mind, cold, high pitched laughter that sent chills eminating down his spine. He gasped and his eyes widened, he shouldn't have been hearing it but...

"_You have Potter?!"_

"_Yes, My Lord...we have him."_

Harry struggled slightly, he shouldn't have been hearing Voldemort as if he was right next to him. His scar, which hadn't pained him in years, began to burn savagely. He struggled with more violence as panic seared him. "No...No...No..."

The laughter increased, inside his mind and without. "Not so high and mighty now, are we? Bloodtraitor scum! The Dark Lord will see to it you are punished severely...you won't even get the relief of death like your dear Mudblood Girlfriend did!"

Suddenly Harry went limp, hanging in the air as the Death Eater's paraded him around, he heard despaired screams and weeping as well as caustic laughter. He opened his eyes and lifted his head with difficulty, his eyes moved around the camp to see workers wearing ragged grey robes were gazing at him with dark eyes. He ignored them turned to look up at the Gaunt house, he had to concentrate, he had to destroy Voldemort. Fire leapt into his chest and he felt courage return to give his limbs strength. Yes, he had to ensure he got hold of the last Horcrux, no matter what the cost. "For the Greater Good..." He breathed and smiled to himself, he hid his face behind his hair and continued to smirk as he was dragged through the camp towards a tall building that resembled a tower.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Ok, I apologise for the delay...I have been having an awful time recently and completely lost my ability to write due to the fact that my father buggered off. :/ Yeah, so it has taken me a while to get my head sorted but this, at the moment is all I can handle. I am so sorry, I will try very hard to update as often as I can but at the moment the chapters will be short and infrequent. Hope to resume normal update speeds soon enough... (Also, my 'Y' button is really stiff so if I have missed any 'Y's' please ignore them! Lol)

_From their graves I heard the fallen  
Above the battle cry  
By that bridge near the border  
There were many more to die  
_- _**Thin Lizzy, "Emerald", Jailbreak.**_

**Chapter Eight**

The room was cold and damp, Harry could hear the soft dripping of a leak somewhere in the darkness of his cell. He was chained to the wall by his wrists and he sat on the cold stone floor and hung his head as he tried to think about how to get himself out of the situation, he shivered as a chill wind slid in beneath the door. He had been stripped down to his waist, he felt vulnerable with so little clothing but he pushed it from his mind. His shoulders began to ache from being higher than his body, he shifted and the chains clinked together. His eyes opened and he squinted at the door, someone had removed his glasses for some reason. He had heard nothing of Voldemort since that once, yet he was on edge. It was as if he was simply awaiting his death, a death he had been escaping since the day he was eleven. He supposed that it was about time, he had been far more lucky than any single person had any right to be, he only regretted not having had the chance to see Hermione or Ron one last time, he regretted not being able to at least try to make amends with Ginny. He sighed and closed his eyes again, his head dropped and he took a slow, deep breath. It was scary waiting for death, much worse than the act itself, his mind had time to consider his situation and mull it over while he was plagued by faces of his friends and those he considered family.

Harry shifted slightly and sighed again, he began seeing his friends in his mind's eye, he saw Hermione's smile, Ron's freckled face, Ginny's bright hair and...Sirius' burning silver eyes. He opened his own and gazed at the wall with a frown, those eyes were not the eyes of the man he knew in his own time. The intense silver gaze remained in his mind as he stared at the opposite wall, he chewed his lip absently and frowned. He wandered what it could mean, if it meant anything at all and if the confusion the gaze stirred in him was due to his sense of profound displacement in this strange new world or because of something else...some long hidden feelings that he had repressed? He shook his head feeling stupid. But his mind drifted to the feel of soft lips against his own, the way they moved and the feel of that tongue.

He must have drifted off at some point because when he heard the door open he was jerked from his half-sleep. He blinked dazedly at the tall, blurry figure standing by the door. Harry had to squint to attempt to focus his eye sight, but all he could see was a black robed figure framed by blurry golden light. Finally the door closed and the figure moved closer, he crouched on his haunches and Harry could see the faded moonlight and firelight flickering across his silver skull mask. He wasn't sure but he felt a thrill of recognition.

"James Potter, we meet again."

That voice made Harry's eyes widen in surprise, the smooth, silky tones of his old potions professor issued from behind the mask. Harry bit down on his bottom lip to prevent himself from speaking, Severus Snape's current loyalties were unknown to him and he couldn't be sure who was watching or listening. Snape lifted his hand and removed his mask, Harry glanced at it as it skittered across the filthy stone floor of his prison. Snape's face was much younger, but it was still familiar to Harry, he remembered the memories Snape had shared with him in his last moments. He remembered...

"_Lily...All this Time?"_

"_Always..."_

Snape's beetle black eyes scanned him, filled with a familiar hatred. "You..." He began and he frowned, his fingers finding his wand and lifting it so Harry was gazing at the tip. "You are not James Potter. Who are you?"

Harry lifted his eyes, ignoring the wand tip and concentrating on the blurred face of the man who had been so devoted to his mother, but that was his own time. He couldn't even begin to guess what this Snape was like. He stared mutely at him until Snape bared his teeth, he gave his wand a sharp flick and Harry winced automatically as he anticipated pain. He felt only a tingling sensation in his eyes, he had to blink rapidly to ease it until finally it faded.

"The enchantments on you must be strong..." Snape whispered as he crouched before the prisoner, he grabbed his face and lifted it until their eyes were level.

The look on Snape's face was incomprehensible, it was a mixture of fury, pain and a desperate longing. "I..." Harry tried to speak but Snape's fingers tightened on his jaw, greasy hair fell to his shoulders and into his eyes as they widened.

"No...this is...cruel...too cruel..." He breathed and grabbed a handful of Harry's hair. "You have _his_ face and _her_ eyes?! Are you trying to drive me mad? Is this another form of torture from the Dark Lord?! Who are you?! Show your true self!"

Harry was shaken violently but after a minute Snape released him and backed away, he stood at the door breathing hard as he tried to recompose himself. "You don't really need to know who I am." Harry said softly, watching the distraught man's back. "But...I think you already know."

"H-her son...? The one he...the one that died?"

Harry nodded slowly before realising Snape couldn't see him. "Yes." He said slowly.

Snape spun around and stared at Harry, eyes raking his face as he lifted a shaking hand touched the skin beneath his eyes. "Lily..." He whispered, his voice full of agony. "I watched her die...I watched her die and I heard Potter's screams as he tried to get to her in time...If...if those rocks hadn't have been in my way I could have saved her. If they hadn't had fallen on my leg...if I hadn't have..." He shuddered and pushed Harry's hair from his forehead. "_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…_"

Harry shivered as Snape's lips formed the now defunct prophecy, at least he now knew they had been the same in both worlds and he realised that he had a potential ally in Snape. He met Snape's cold eyes and begged silently with his own. "Help me, Severus." He whispered softly and knew when Snape's eyes hardened that he would get his wish.

XXX

Morning dawned as red as blood, Sirius sat hunched against a tree, his shoulders forward as he smoked a hand-rolled cigarette. He gazed across the field at the camp of Death Eaters and saw his own sins etched into his soul, it had been his idea even though everyone else had agreed reluctantly he had instigated the mass murder. He blew smoke from his numb lips and pulled his cloak further around his shoulders. He should never have allowed Harry to enter that place, he was supposed to protect him because he was their last...their only hope. Sirius sighed and rubbed at his tired eyes, he could hear James' soft snores from where he lay surrounded by dead brush beside Remus. He watched his best friend sleep but saw the frown on his forehead that told him he was having nightmares. Not that that was new, they all suffered. The night was full of terrors for all three of them, he could see the pale corpses glowing under the moonlight even with his eyes open. He would never get the smell of burnt flesh out of his hair and skin and the crimson stains on his hands would never fade. Unfortunately soap could only wash away the stains on the body, stains upon ones soul were another matter entirely. "Bones and blood...the body's so fragile." He whispered around his cigarette as he gazed down at his hands. Only he could see that they dripped in the blood of countless people, innocent, guilty it never mattered. He clenched his fingers so his hands formed fists as he lifted his head and gazed at the tallest tower in the camp, he blew pale smoke from his lips as the sun rose to stain the whole world the colour of blood. "For the greater good." He whispered and smiled even as screams echoed in his ears, screams of the trapped, of the dying, people begging to be released and then the explosion...

XXX

Remus groaned and rolled over he opened his eyes as the sound of clanging bells sounded in the camp below them. He sat up and rubbed his tired eyes before turning to see Sirius with his head between his knees. Remus looked away from him and gazed into the camp where people were marching across the ground in uniform ranks. "What's going on?" He asked.

"They've called morning duties." Sirius muttered to the dirt between his feet.

"You alright?"

"As alright as I can be, old friend." He said and lifted his head. Remus eyed him carefully, he didn't like the dead haunted cast to Sirius' eyes nor did he like the way he appeared to be losing so much weight. But Remus shook his head and turned back to the problem at hand.

"What are they doing to him?" He asked slowly.

"Rekcon they've killed him." Sirius mumbled.

"No, we would know. Voldemort wouldn't have kept something as big as James Potter's death a secret."

"Unless he found out he's not got James..."

"Hmm..." Remus frowned at Sirius who looked utterly defeated. "We'll win this, Sirius. We have to."

Sirius merely shrugged. If we do, we do...if we don't I have m back up plan."

"Back up plan?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

Sirius grinned in a slightly deranged way that made his eyes look souless. "I'm gunna kill myself and take out as many of them as I can."

"I like that idea." James said from where he was still curled in a ball, he yawned and slowly untangled himself from hic cloak. "We'll go together, Padfoot old friend."

"Indeed. A Marauder firework display with extra intestines."

Remus giggled a little manically, he too had considered suicide instead of capture, especially considering what he was. Death and destruction had to be laughed at, after everything they had done and seen, they needed some form of release. He turned back to the camp and looked towards the tower where Harry was now being kept. "Hurry." He breathed.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: A nice easy chapter for you, just to break up the darkness. :) I'm sorry I've been so slow in updating, I hope this satisfies your cravings. Enjoy and Loving your Reviews so far, thank you.

_The curse of blood  
Falls upon this nation  
I wash my hands  
And hang my head in shame  
I pray for peace  
And forge the crooked valley  
This dreaded fear  
Held prisoner inside me – __**Toto, No End In Sight**_

Chapter Nine

Harry straightened and began working his wrists and shoulders to regain the feeling in them, Snape surveyed him with his familiar inscrutable expression. "Thanks." Harry said softly.

Snape's eyes narrowed. "I don't understand it." He said softly. "You should not only be dead but you weren't even born...what devilry is this?"

Harry smiled bitterly. "I'm from another dimension, I was...kidnapped and brought here to defeat Voldemort."

Snape winced at the name but said nothing. "I see...If I help you in your escape I will expect further explanation."

"Deal." Harry said as he gazed around the room. "So, how do we get out?"

Snape gestured towards the door. "Through here but we will have to disguise you...there is not guard as there is heavy enchantments on the door to keep people in. I will disguise you as one of us, with a mask so that we can escape. Remember do not speak and do not do anything except what I tell you, do you understand?"

Harry nodded as Snape passed him a long black cloak and spare mask from a chest in the corner, he had no idea why they had spare robes hanging around in prisons and he didn't ask. He stood before the door feeling exceptionally vulnerable, especially since he had given his wand to James. He glanced at Snape who had a carefully blank expression as he opened the door, he turned and locked it behind him and re-set the enchantments. "Follow me." He said and swept down the hall way, Harry trotted after him gazing around curiously. Snape's robes billowed around him and Harry was once again reminded of a giant bat, he smiled at the familiar mental imagery before realising his situation. They went down a set of spiralling stairs and it wasn't long before Harry found himself getting dizzier, he paused briefly and shook his head before following Snape once again. Doors led off from the stairs at odd intervals and Harry peered into the few that were open, each of them appeared to be some sort of high-tech prison as there were chains and what looked like bloody torture equipment inside. He shuddered and reaffirmed his determination to complete his task.

They reached the bottom of the stair case with no interruption and stepped out into the cold morning air, Harry gazed around himself and felt despair seep into his soul. It was hell. The world was lit by bright orange flames from the massive pits, there were echoing screams from tortured souls and he could clearly see long lines of marching Death Eaters. He took a breath and let it out slowly as he scanned the area and spotted the dilapidated cottage, he licked his lips, it wasn't very far away. "Snape!" He whispered softly to his companion. "I have to get in there." He pointed to the cottage and saw Snape's gaze follow his, the man shook his head.

"Impossible, only the Dark Lord is allowed inside."

"I don't care. I have to get in there...do you know how?"

Snape eyed him suspiciously for a moment before seeming to come to a decision. "Fine. We will have to do some lying, stay silent!" He strode towards the building confidently, gliding across the muddy ground. "You there!" He said as he reached the pair of tired looking guards. "I have been asked to retrieve something from within the cottage, the Dark Lord will be arriving soon."

The guards looked at each other. "We're not supposed to let anyone inside..." One of them said doubtfully.

"Are you going to ignore the orders of your lord?" Snape said quietly. Harry hung back, unwilling to gain attention.

"No...no we just thought..."

"Then let my companion and I inside."

One guard shifted uncomfortably before sighing and releasing the enchantments enough for the pair of them to step through. Snape glanced at the building and looked to Harry. "Hurry, I do not know how long it will be before the Dark Lord returns."

Harry swallowed nervously and nodded, he began walking up the small hill towards the cottage. The house was dusty and so full of cobwebs it looked as if someone had sprayed it with silvery paint. Harry had difficulty breathing as the dust choked him, he lifted the neck of his robes so they covered the lower half of his face and walked forwards. He recognised the lay out from the Memories of Bob Ogden, the kitchen was empty of everything as was every other room. He made his way upstairs and reached a bedroom which also appeared empty but before he could step away he felt something tug at his mind and he turned. His eyes landed upon a floor board. He blinked, suddenly certain that it was loose. Slowly he stepped towards it sending up little puffs of dust as each foot fell, he stopped before the floor board and stared at it for a while. Something about the area made his hackles rise, his instinct was to run away from whatever was beneath the floor, it was like a great malevolent miasma was rising up through the cracks in the wood. Harry forced away his instinct and knelt down, he put his finger nails between the gap in the wood and gave an almighty tug. It was wrenched free with more ease than he had been expecting and he fell backwards with a gasp of shock. He lay still coughing for a moment as Snape glided over to the gap and gazed inside.

"A ring?" He asked in mild surprise.

"Is it there?!" Harry pulled off his mask and gazed inside the little gap. There it was. A small, golden ring with a black stone set into it, upon which was the crest of the Deathly Hallows. He grinned to himself and reached inside, suddenly Snape's fingers took hold of his wrist.

"What are you doing? Are you mad? If this is an important artefact do you not think the Dark Lord would have placed some kind of barriers on it?"

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I wasn't thinking...well...how do we get it out?"

Snape brought out his wand with a frown, slowly he began muttering as he waved it over the hole in the floor. Several minutes passed in which Harry simply watched Snape work, finally he withdrew. "There are layers of very powerful Dark Magic surrounding this ring, I cannot even begin to fathom them all without a great deal of time...time which we do not have." He paused and considered. "I think, for now, we must disable the ones that are preventing someone from removing it and then we shall see to the rest later." Harry watched once again as Snape began to breath incomprehensible words and wave his wand in a series of complicated patterns. After a few minutes a fine sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead and he began to frown deeper, Harry watched in silent anticipation before Snape gasped softly and let his arm fall back to his side. "It is done but be wary."

Harry nodded and pulled back his sleeve, slowly he reached for the ring that glinted innocently in its dark little hole. His fingers brushed the surface of the black stone and a shiver tore up his spine, he quickly grabbed the thing just as a soft hiss escaped it, it fell silent as soon as his hand closed around it. He sat there panting a few seconds before shaking his head. "Let's get out of here." He whispered.

Outside the sun had risen to reveal the camp in all it's terrible glory, Harry scanned the area as he followed at Snape's heels towards the gates. He felt nervous as he had no idea when Lord Voldemort was going to appear. They neared the gates and paused to have them opened by the guards, they never even stopped to ask Snape why he was leaving, probably assuming he had urgent business. Harry held his breath as he stepped outside the camp, he felt as if something should happen, as if as soon as his feet touched freedom a call would go out as someone discovered the missing Horcrux. He held his breath even as they began making their way back up the hill, he could almost feel Voldemorts crimson eyes on his back and it made chills creep down his spine. His hand clutched the ring so tightly the cool metal dug into his palm. Getting a horcrux should not have been that easy. It worried him.

They were forced to pause at the crest of the hill to catch their breaths, Snape gazed back over his shoulder with a suspicious frown. "What is the significance of that ring, Potter?" He asked as he turned those beetle black eyes to Harry.

Harry held out the object so it glinted innocently in his palm. "I can't tell you, I'm sorry. It's important though, we need to destroy it."

"I see..." Snape glared at him. "If you have made me risk my life for some worthless trinket I will-" Whatever it was Snape would do to him Harry never found out as a jet of red light shot from the bushes and hit him in the back. He crumpled in a heap and lay still. Harry blinked in shock.

"What the-?" He turned to see James, Sirius and Remus stepping out from the bushes, wands raised.

"Harry!" Sirius ran to his side and took hold of his face, he gazed at him carefully. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"No...no I'm fine...only, you just..."

"Look at what we've got here then..." James said with menace in his voice as he poked Snape's unconscious form over with the toe of his boot. "Snivelly!" He hissed.

Sirius turned to look down at the body, he smirked. "Well, well, well..." He said softly and crouched beside Snape. "Look at him, the greasy little fuck." He jabbed him in the side of the face with his wand and chuckled darkly. "So, you really are working for them...I was right."

Remus frowned and looked at Harry. "What were you doing?" He asked.

"He helped me escape...once he realised I wasn't you." He nodded towards his father. "He helped me get this." He lifted his hand and held out the ring, everyone gathered around it, forgetting Snape in their curiosity. James reached for it but withdrew his hand rapidly.

"I don't like it." He muttered nervously. "It's like...like there's something living in there."

Harry looked at it and nodded. "Voldemorts soul." He said quietly.

"So, Snape was merely helping you? Are you sure he's not spying?" Remus asked slightly doubtfully.

Harry smiled slightly. "No, he's on our side."

"How do you know? How can you trust a Death Eater?" Sirius asked warily nudging Snape with his boot.

"I know I can trust him, isn't that enough?" Harry was reluctant to divulge Snape's secret heartache, he didn't want to lose a potential ally. "We can use him, he knows more Dark Magic than any of us here. Think about what he can tell us about Voldemort's movements!"

Remus' face relaxed and he smiled. "An excellent idea, Harry. As long as we keep an eye on him we can work together."

Sirius shared a doubtful glance with James and sneered. "He's a slimy git, we can do without him...let's just kill him here and be done with it." He lifted his wand but Remus put his hand on it.

"I think there's enough death here, don't you?" He said softly.

Sirius paused, he licked his lips before glancing at Harry and away again. "Fine!" He snapped and shoved his wand back into his pocket. "Do whatever you want just don't go crying to me when he's killed you in your sleep, he's a snake and snake's cannot be trusted."

Harry sighed softly as Sirius walked off a little way, he put the ring safely in his pocket, reluctant to put it on and knelt to revive Snape. James folded his arms across his chest and frowned slightly as Harry pointed his wand at the unconscious Death Eater. "I think Sirius is right you know." He said quietly. "We can't trust him."

"I know you can't...but can you trust me?" He looked up at his father. "If you can trust me then you can trust that I know what I'm doing."

James pulled a face as if he had tasted something bitter but nodded his head sharply. "Ok, but if he turns on us we're all dead, you understand that don't you?"

Harry smiled. "I do."

"Good. Then let's get out of here."

Snape came around and blinked, he groaned softly before sitting upright. "What happened?"

"Er...you were attacked by accident." Harry replied guiltily.

Snape's eyes focussed on him and slowly slid to James who stood over him, his arms folded and his eyes narrowed in dislike. "Potter!" Snape hissed as he scrambled to his feet, he drew his wand and lifted it.

"Snape." James replied with the tiniest sneer. "From now on we're working together, you have Harry to thank for your life so don't go throwing it away by doing something stupid. Come on, we're going." He strode off after Sirius, Remus sighed softly and shook his head.

"After all this time you would have thought we'd have grown up a bit..." He said with a small shrug.

"Old grudges die hard I suppose." Harry replied with a glance at Snape who was glaring furiously after James. "Come on, let's go before we're caught."

XXX

"Two down." Harry whispered to himself. He gazed down at the ring and locket, they lay side by side on a table seemingly so innocent yet hiding the shattered pieces of the soul of a monster. He touched the locket and felt that almost undetectable heartbeat beneath his fingers, his breathing caught in his throat as he was once again repulsed by the feeling. He withdrew quickly and automatically wiped his hand on his robe.

"Harry!"

Harry turned to see Sirius stood in the doorway of the living room, they were situated in an old abandoned Cottage. "Hi." Harry said with a smile.

Sirius entered and looked down at the Horcruxes. "How many more do we have to get?"

"Well, there's the cup, the Diadem and the diary..." Harry said and nodded. "Just the three. In my time Voldemort used Bertha Jorkins as his victim to create the other Horcrux in Nagini...I doubt he would have done it this time."

"Bertha Jorkins?" Sirius smirked slightly. "She was a few years older than me at school...used to be a right gossip. I nearly hit her several times with a curse for the problems her gossip caused."

"I know, you told me." Harry smiled and their eyes met over the top of the Horcrux's. Something in the air seemed to thicken and Harry felt a pleasant chill race down his spine as he remembered the feel of Sirius' lips against his own, Sirius cocked his head to the side like an inquisitive dog and Harry couldn't help but be struck by how handsome he was.

"James has gone out to get us some food with Remus…" Sirius muttered, his eyes moving down to gaze intently at the Horcrux's lined up on the table. He reached out with a finger and nudged the locket. "You know, my family are distantly related to Slytherin…Very, very distantly. My mother would take every opportunity to remind us of this fact, we're probably descended from one of his cousins rather than him directly, but she wouldn't like to admit that." He smirked and picked up the locket, it swung back and forth on its delicate chain like a hypnotists watch. Sirius' eyes tracked it's movement carefully, the silver irises glittering like the gems on the locket. "Do you reckon it would have a picture inside?"

Harry shook his head slowly, his own eyes glued to the man before him. "No…where the pictures normally are there's only two crimson eyes. If there was a picture before Voldemort turned it into a Horcrux it doesn't exist now."

"I see." Sirius moved his piercing gaze from the locket to Harry, he rested his head on one hand and simply watched the boy who so much resembled James. "You look a lot like your father…"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I noticed."

"But you could be two different people. Since Lily's death James…he changed…" Sirius gazed off into the distance for a moment and let the locket fall back to the table. "He became harder, but then I suppose we all changed after that day. We watched them all die and the few we did manage to save from the sewers…" He trailed off and sighed heavily. "I killed."

Harry's eyes widened and he stood up backing away from Sirius a few paces. "You _what_? They were your allies!"

Sirius' smile became twisted. "What other choice did we have? We came out in one of our secret hideouts, it was an old Victorian house, abandoned and condemned…we had hordes of Death Eater's following us and we had no choice but to collapse the tunnel behind us and crush all those still inside. You think we enjoyed it? We had to listen to their screams…They haunt me in my sleep, they follow me wherever I go…I'll never forget them." His face twisted and he buried his face in his hands. "It was awful but we had to escape! No matter what the cost we had to get away so we could travel to find you! There was no other choice!"

Harry stood perfectly still for a long moment before licking his dry lips. "For the Greater Good." He breathed, Sirius looked at him through his long fringe and nodded slowly. He had madness glittering in his eyes and it scared Harry but there was also something hauntingly attractive about it, he was drawn to Sirius in a way that scared him and made him question his own sanity. "I've never knowingly killed but…but people have died as a result of my actions. Like when we escaped Lestrange's Vault in Gringotts…so many died because Voldemort was so furious. It's my fault, because I was there, because it was me who angered him…they didn't need to die but they did…" Harry sighed and sat back down in his seat, he slumped his shoulders and stared despondently at the ceiling. "Casualties of war…collateral damage…it all sounds so callous. I never even knew any of their names, I never even saw many of their faces…except in brief flashes through Voldemort's eyes. I suppose we all have our own guilt to carry."

"That we do, little Prongslet, that we do." Their eyes met across the table again and there was a sudden flash of understanding between them, both of them knew heartache and pain, they both knew the abuse of uncaring adults. They both knew loneliness and wore it like a cloak. Sirius stood and moved closer to Harry who remained in his seat, the man moved with a grace inherent in his genes until he was stood before Harry and looking down at him with curious eyes. "We have a lot more in common than you let on, Prongslet." He said softly and crouched before him, Harry couldn't look away from him even if he'd wanted to. "You…fascinate me in ways I don't understand." Sirius reached up and brushed a lock of hair from the lightening shaped bolt on Harry's forehead, he gazed at it, enraptured for a long moment before running a calloused thumb across it and making Harry shudder and grit his teeth. "Does it hurt?" Sirius asked suddenly, his eyes softening in concern.

"No…I just…" Harry smiled. "I'm not really used to people touching it, it was caused by Dark Magic after all…Ginny never touched it, I think she was afraid of it."

"Dark Magic doesn't scare me, Harry." Sirius smiled and slowly slid his fingers into Harry's messy hair, gently he pulled their faces close. "You are absolutely fascinating." He breathed, hot breath ghosting over Harry's lips and making them part slightly. Sirius' eyes landed on them and he smirked slightly before leaning forward in one swift movement and capturing Harry's mouth with his own. Harry's head was tipped back by Sirius' hand tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck, his lips parted slightly as he tried to draw breath but a hot, probing tongue slid between them. When their tongues touched Harry shivered, lightening shot across his skin and he let slip an involuntary moan which Sirius swallowed hungrily. The moment was intense, Sirius' tongue did things that Harry had never dreamed possible, it sent his libido into overdrive and it wasn't long before he felt his cock stirring within the confines of his trousers. Finally when Harry was afraid he was going to suffocate Sirius drew away leaving a casual flick of his tongue across Harry's rather bruised lips, he smirked and smoothed hair from his eyes as he moved so that he sat in Harry's lap. "You're a good kisser…"

"I-I've never erm…never kissed a bloke before…I…Why are you in my lap?" Harry's cheeks flushed a deep shade of pink as Sirius' snickered, Harry's fingers tightened on the arms of his chair as Sirius shifted his weight and caused pleasure to send a bolt of lightning right into his groin. He hissed air through his teeth and tipped his head back.

"It doesn't matter, I have enough experience for the both of us…do you want me Harry?" Sirius muttered seductively against the dip of Harry's throat. "Say you want me and I'm yours."

A hand slid down Harry's chest and reached between their bodies, Sirius smiled as he gently squeezed Harry's erection through his trousers. Harry bit back a moan as lips found the skin of his throat, his eyes fell half closed and a pink tinge flushed his cheeks.

"Sh-Shit…Siri-Sirius I…" Harry's eyes fluttered closed and he let a wave pleasure wash through his body, the heat between them was intense and almost overwhelming. He shuddered and tried to bring his thoughts into some kind of order, was he gay? He had never really thought about it before, he had enjoyed Ginny's mouth on his cock, that was for sure but then he hadn't enjoyed sex with her…he had put it down to the stress his mind was under and his preoccupation with his guilt.

"I'll can be yours Harry, just say the words and you can have me…what do you say?" Sirius smiled as he gazed down into Harry's eyes. "You look like your father but I can get around that because your personalities are so different…so, what do you want?"

"Ah!" Harry arched his back as Sirius' skilled hand began massaging him, he felt a hot tongue and sharp teeth on his skin and swallowed hard. "W-We can't…!" He gasped finally, turning his eyes to meet Sirius'. "It's wrong!"

Sirius stopped in his ministrations and huffed irritably. "Nope….nothing like James." He sighed. "Even he used to enjoy a good fool around in the dorms when we were bored and randy, it's just entertainment Harry, it's not as if I want to marry you. We'd just…fuck occasionally." His smile turned devious and he nipped at Harry's ear. "I don't mind if you want to top or bottom, I'm pretty versatile."

Harry's eyes widened in confusion. "What? What does that even mean?"

Sirius stared at him disbelief. "You're kidding me, right?" At the look on Harry's face he laughed. "A top is someone who likes to give, the Bottom likes to take…someone who is versatile can do both." He grinned and the pink flush on Harry's cheeks. "Such an innocent reaction, adorable…and definitely not like James. You know he was a pretty good with his hands…probably all that Quidditch he played. He had this technique where he could make me cum in less than a minute." His smile turned nostalgic. "We never went any further than botched hand jobs in broom cupboards but I reckon he'd be a decent shag." He paused and saw Harry looking uncomfortable, Sirius giggled and smirked. "So, how far do you want to take this, Potter?"


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Hullo again! I hope you're all still enjoying this story, I am trying to write so many stories at the moment it's becoming a little overwhelming, lol. However, I am trying to get them all written as quickly as possible. Now then, this has a little mild smut but it's pretty basic. The more intense stuff will come later, have no fear! Enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Ten

When Harry didn't answer Sirius began undoing his belt, his fingers nimble and fast. Before he knew what was happening Sirius had Harry's erection clasped firmly in a hot palm, he leaned forward and began leaving a trail of soft kisses down his throat and Harry closed his eyes tightly to erase those haunting silver eyes from his own. Sirius chuckled and nipped lightly on the lobe of Harry's ear, "Mm…you're pretty hard for a straight guy, Harry." He whispered as he moved his hand up and down Harry's shaft, he felt the slightly younger man breathing heavily beneath him, he felt a familiar buzz run through his nerves and go straight to his own groin. He liked the fact that he had the power to make Harry's breathing speed up, he had always got off on knowing he was good at anything to do with sex. He grinned as Harry let slip a soft little moan, it was quickly stifled but unmistakable. It wasn't long before Harry was thrusting his hips off of the seat of the chair, his eyes remained firmly shut as his hands clutched desperately on the wooden arms of his seat. Sirius moaned heavily in his ear, ensuring his breathe tickled the sensitive flesh. Suddenly Harry's eyes flew open and he grabbed Sirius' wrist tightly, his body tensed as his grip tightened on the hand holding his cock. Green eyes met silver and Harry felt his orgasm twisting viciously in his abdomen, he held Sirius' gaze as he came with his teeth digging into his bottom lip. Sirius' smirk graced his face once again after getting over the shock of seeing Harry come undone, he lifted his soild hand to his mouth and ran his tongue through the sticky mess of Harry's cum. He chuckled roughly as Harry's eyes widened behind his now wonky glasses. "You taste good." He said.

"Sirius…A word, now."

Harry jumped as a jolt of terrified embarrassment shot into the pit of his stomach, it shattered the dazed post-orgasmic bliss and the spell of Sirius' eyes and he blinked rapidly as colour heated his cheeks. Sirius cleaned his hand with a few more stroke of his tongue, his eyes glittering dangerously behind his messy fringe as he stared at Remus. "Alright, Moony." He said by way of greeting, he slid easily from Harry's lap and walked towards the door, with a smile he threw Harry a smouldering look over his shoulder before following the werewolf from the room and into the kitchen. James was whistling to himself as he put away shopping, when his friends entered he turned and smiled but it fell quickly when he saw Remus' tense stance.

"What's going on?" James asked and turned his eyes to Sirius who hefted himself up onto the counter, he rummaged in one of the nearby bags and withdrew a packet of muggle cigarettes. "Sirius?"

Sirius shrugged and lit the little white stick with his wand before blowing acrid scented smoke from his lungs. He sighed. "Ah, nothing like a muggle cigarette…" He muttered and flicked ash casually onto the stained tiled floor.

"Remus, what's wrong?" James' tone became one of worry as he gazed at his tense friend. Remus ran fingers through his hair and kicked the door too, he strode over to Sirius who was now leaning against the wall in a pose that showed he felt no remorse for seducing the son of his best friend.

"_He_ is what's wrong." Remus said, jabbing a finger at Sirius who adopted a look of false innocence.

"_Me_?! I haven't done anything to warrant an accusatory finger, Moony old friend." He took another deep drag and blew the smoke out through his nose, he tapped the cigarette and ash drifted to the tiles.

"You deserve a punch for what you've just done, Sirius!" Remus snapped angrily. "Harry's younger than you…he's not from this world! What you did was…was not only disgusting but downright cruel!"

Sirius lifted an elegant eyebrow and shook his hair back from his eyes, he took another drag and seemed to think as he rocked back and forth on his cold seat. "Oh, you mean _that_!" he said in mock surprise. "I didn't do anything wrong. _You're_ in the wrong for interrupting before I could finish myself off…"

Remus flushed but his hands clenched into fists at his sides and he stepped towards his friend with fury turning his eyes amber, Sirius watched him in mild amusement. "You are acting like a horny teenager! You're supposed to be better than this…I thought you were better than this! Can't you control yourself for once in your bloody life?! You are not an animal, Sirius, you are supposed to be the one in control! Harry is relying on us to guide him through this horrible world, he's never witnessed anything like this before and now you're confusing him by seducing him! How dare you! What happens if he does end up leaving when this is over? What happens when he returns to his own time?!"

Sirius' eyes turned suddenly cold, he lifted his head up and straightened his back. "I'm not falling for him, Remus." He said softly, his voice filling with potential venom as his lids lowered in a look of arrogant insolence. "This isn't about love, or any of that pathetic, childish emotions. This is sex. It's fucking. It's cold and pitiless and nothing more than a way for two people to satisfy their animalistic urges, we're both adults, he may be younger than me but in this world it's only by months, not years. I am not a pervert. Sex is the most natural thing in the world, everyone knows that it relieves stress and clears the head…it's healthy." He took another drag from his cigarette and slid from his perch. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go see if Harry's still interested…" As he reached the door he felt an iron grip on his arm, he turned and glared at Remus who was giving him an equally heated look.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on him." Remus growled. "This is not simply for his sake, although it is a good part of it, it is for your own good! Listen to me! For once in your life, Sirius, listen! Stop trying to rebel against everyone! I care about you, I'm your friend! Please…"

Sirius yanked his arm free and tossed his head, he sneered angrily. "Get off of me." He growled. "I'm not a fucking child who needs to be controlled, I am my own man. I know what I'm doing! You're beginning to remind me of my own parents…be careful you don't cross that line."

Remus was silent a moment, his anger returning rapidly, like a fire flamed by wind. "How dare you!" he hissed. "I am not doing this because of some paternal sense of protectiveness, I am trying to attempt to rectify a very delicate situation! This is more than just sex, Sirius! This is Harry Potter! This is James' son! Your _Godson_! He's the only one who can destroy Voldemort once and for all!"

Sirius hissed air through his teeth, his face twisting in fury. "He's a man!" he shouted. "He can make his own decisions, Remus! He does not need to be babied. Merlin, you're acting like a mother…his mother is dead! His father is dead! Don't you understand yet? This is not the same Harry who was supposed to be born in this world! This man is different, he's perfectly capable of pushing me away, of telling me no…but he didn't. He wasn't telling me to stop. I was listening…I'm not a fucking rapist! I'M NOT MY FATHER!" His eyes widened briefly before going dark, he turned his head away and dropped his cigarette onto the floor and crushing it beneath his boot. "Fuck this, I'm going for a walk." He hissed and turned only to feel a hand on his shoulder. He was yanked away from the door and thrown into the wall, his eyes widened briefly as Remus pressed his forearm against his chest.

"No. You're not going anywhere until you have apologised to Harry."

Sirius snarled and pushed Remus roughly away from him. "What's wrong with you…? Is it your time of month?!" He growled, he saw Remus snarl in response. "Or is it that you're jealous?" Sirius' face turned into an evil smirk. "Oh, so you want Harry for yourself and you're jealous that I had the guts to try something…hmm…poor, poor Remus…so far in the closet he's seeing the skeletons." He let out a bark of humourless laughter and Remus flushed with anger, in contrast Sirius got paler. "Perhaps the little werewolf would like a taste of our savoir…" he lifted his hand and flicked his tongue over the tips of his fingers, the gesture casually seductive, he chuckled. "Well, too late." He grinned nastily and watched Remus lunge, before they could so much as raise wands there was a blast like a canon going off. Smoke filled the room and set them both to choking, Sirius' eyes watered, he lifted his wand blinking rapidly as he sought the source of the explosion.

"Stop this right now, both of you!" James' commanding voice shattered the strained silence and both pairs of eyes turned to him, he walked over to Sirius and slammed him into the wall with one hand on his chest. "What the fuck have you done?" He growled as he glared into Sirius' eyes, they lost their anger and he now looked mollified and a little worried.

"It was…just a bit of fun, Jamie." Sirius said quietly, his eyes dropping to stare at the tiled floor. "I was…curious, I only wanted to know if he was interested in you know…being with me in that way…I just…"

"You just nearly fucked my son." James said, his mouth twisting in a grimace. "The last living reminder of Lily…of my wife…of the son I lost…"

Sirius kept his eyes downcast. "I'm sorry." He breathed. "I never thought…"

"You never do think, Sirius…that's your problem." James released him and shook his head. "Whatever you did, go apologise."

Sirius looked up at his best friend through his fringe, his eyes shot to Remus who stood still with his head turned away. "Remus…" he muttered. "I'm sorry, mate." He breathed. "I didn't mean all those things…I just…sometimes it's like there's this…monster inside me and it says and does things that are wrong."

Remus looked at him and sighed, he smiled bitterly. "I think I understand that feeling."

They smiled at each other and the tension broke, James slumped against the wall and hung his head. "Merlin…this is destroying us." He whispered and took a shaky breathe as he pushed both hands into his messy hair. "…all of us."

"I know." Sirius replied and turned away, he pushed the door open and paused with his eyes on the mouldy ceiling. "We only have to make sure Harry survives this…right? I mean…when Voldemort's dead and everything…what will we do?" James and Remus looked at each other, their eyes conveying the truth; they had no lives outside the war. If the war ended so would they. Sirius smiled, knowing exactly what was going through his friend's heads. "It'll be a fucking relief." He whispered and left the kitchen. "And I'll finally be free." His smile widened as he entered the decrepit living room, he found Harry sitting down and rolling the ring across the table. "Hi, I am sent here to apologise to you." Sirius said and gave Harry a wonky, guilty smile. "Sometimes I…I get kind of carried away and more than a little obsessed with things…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laid a hand on you."

"Er…ok." Harry replied, still unable to meet Sirius' eyes. "Right…well…now that's over…what was that explosion?"

Sirius grimaced. "James was reminding me of my place." He tried to smile but the atmosphere was awkward, nervously he rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. "Yeah, he has to do that sometimes…just to make sure I don't go completely insane. Black gene's and all that…" Harry nodded and frowned at the table. "So…erm…I-I'm gunna just…go and…er…" Sirius moved towards the door just as Harry let out a sudden burst of laughter, he turned to the green eyes man in confusion.

"We're idiots." He said brightly, although his face was still crimson with blood.

"We are at that, Prongslet."

XXX

Hermione paced frantically, her hands twisted before her as she worried her lip with her teeth. Neville had begun to feel dizzy watching her continuous pacing, it was like watching a tiger at a zoo…a very agitated tiger. Her hair had fallen from it's bun at the back of her head and had begun to lose all semblance of neatness, it stuck up in random bunches looking frizzier than ever. The effect would have been comical if Neville hadn't been terrified she would have hexed his balls off, he had become rather fond of his balls over the past twenty odd years of his life and had no wish to part company with them. "Erm…" He began and Hermione turned on him, she sent him a glare that melted his weak courage and he looked down at his knees. It was rather like being imprisoned except the guard was scarier than a Dementor. He cleared his throat and tried again; "H-Hermione…would you…would like a cup of tea?" He stuttered, avoiding her eyes which had a slightly mad, wild cast to them.

"Oh…oh yes that would be wonderful, Neville." She said and Neville slumped in relief, he stood up and went to his kitchen just as someone knocked on the door. He froze and went for his wand on impulse, he withdrew it and began slowly inching towards the door. Hermione was at his back with her own wand raised.

"Who is it?" Neville asked, feeling nerves twist his stomach.

"Neville, it's me…Ron. Open up."

Neville sighed and went to open the door, Hermione grabbed his wrist and shook her head quickly. "Ask him where we had our first kiss." She breathed in Neville's ear.

"Right…erm…W-Where did we have our first kiss? I mean…" He felt Hermione shake her head. "Where did you and Hermione have your first kiss?"

There was an irritated, tired sounding sigh from the other side of the door. "We had our first kiss in the room of requirement after we had destroyed the cup; Harry was there and had a go at us."

Hermione grinned and flicked her wand at the door, it opened to reveal an exhausted, soot stained and bruised Ron who smiled weakly as his girlfriend threw herself into his arms.

Once they were inside and all settled Ron embarked on his story, he held his tea in one hand and his blue eyes took on an odd, almost haunted look. "We found the hideout, the information was good…we moved in planning to set traps so the explosion would be triggered as soon as one of the Death Eater's left the house but it went wrong. That bloke Humphrey Walker got cocky and ignored orders, he was blasted to bits before we could even get to him on time…stupid fool." He frowned and took a sip of his drink. "So, after that we had to fight it out, didn't we? There were ten of them and five of us…we were lucky some of the traps that had already been set up went off and buried the majority of them or we'd all have died…" He shivered and Hermione put her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I killed one of them myself, not deliberately but I was trying to bring down the front of the house and he came out just as the spell hit him…he went up like he'd been doused in muggle petrol."

"Oh Ron…" Hermione stroked gentle circles on his bicep and he sighed, his breathing hitching slightly as he re-lived the terror.

"Well, only three out of our original five managed to escape in the end…we were lucky…but we did it. We wiped them out…that's what the minister ordered." Ron sipped at his drink again and turned to Hermione, she kissed him and smiled.

"I'm glad you came back to me."

"Me too." Ron replied softly. "What about Harry? Have you managed to find out if the spell with reverse its self?"

Hermione shook her head. "There's been no mention in any book I've been able to read on Inter-dimensional Magical travel…I honestly don't think there's anything we can do but wait."

Ron closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the sofa. "He'll be alright…It's Harry we're talking about here, he's always been a lucky git."

Hermione frowned. "Or unlucky…depending on how you look at it." Ron and Neville agreed.

END NOTE: If you're wondering why Sirius is acting so oddly all I can say is; He's mental. Lol. After watching his lover being torn apart by Bella he's gone a bit loopy and lost control of his emotions, so he does odd things and gets angry over the silliest things. Remus is angry because Sirius never listens to him and he's trying to stop him from not only harming Harry but himself, he's frustrated and only wants what's best for his friend…who is intent on destroying himself one way or another. Anyways, hope you enjoyed, any comments and constructive crit is ALWAYS welcome, I love to hear what you think of my stories and the interest so far has been fantastic. It has warmed the cockles of my withered old heart, lol.


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Another short chapter today, I apologise, I'm really tired so not much in the mood for writing. :( I hope you enjoy it none the less. No smut, just a little Snape and Harry interaction, I love Snape. He's an awesome character! :D_

**Chapter Eleven**

_I search the stars, still I find  
No rhyme or reason  
I can't see a thing  
That's gonna make it right, oh make it right  
You're still walking at midnight  
Alone with voices in your mind  
__- Toto, No End in Sight._

The house was getting colder at nights, Harry had no idea of the time of year and he didn't ask, it was almost as if the whole world was stuck in an eternal winter. He stood in the living room of the dilapidated house, gazing out the window into the abandoned streets, his mind was dwelling upon his mission, he was slowly turning the locations over in his mind and wondering how he was going to get to the last remaining Horcrux's.

_The cup, the Diary, the Diadem…_

He had no idea of the location of the cup, it would be ridiculous to think that Voldemort would have placed it into Bellatrix's keeping when he thought he had no need to. The diary? Well, it was entirely possible Voldemort had given it to Malfoy in this universe as well, it made sense that he would. The Diadem could only be at Hogwarts, it was the only place Harry knew Voldemort had his strongest connection to. But what was Hogwarts like in this universe? Was it overrun with Death Eaters? Would they be forced to repeat a scene similar to that of nineteen ninety seven? He sighed and pushed his hands through his hair, he would have to consider each thing as it came up. He knew the location of the Diadem and while there he could easily get down to the Chamber of Secrets and get hold of the Basilisk Fang. Well…killing a basilisk twice without the aid of Godric's sword would be the most challenging aspect.

"Potter, what are you doing?"

Harry turned to see Snape eyeing him warily from the shadowy door way, he smiled. "Thinking about my next move." He replied. "How are you?"

Snape sneered slightly. "Attempting to avoid your father and that Black is harder than one would suspect in such a large area."

"Yeah, sorry about them but getting them to trust you simply because I do is a lot harder than you'd think."

"Why? Why would be stupid enough to trust someone who has proven themselves a Death Eater?" Snape asked, his face as guarded as ever.

Harry smiled softly. "Because once my mum trusted you, a long time ago."

Snape flushed blotchily, Harry was surprised at this sudden show of emotion. "That is private! If you ever, and I mean ever, disclose this personal information I will see to it personally that you are handed over to the Dark Lord!"

"I won't say anything, don't worry."

Snape seemed to relax but he continued to look at Harry with that same loathing he always had done, Harry turned away and continued to gaze out the window, as he watched flakes of white began to fall from the heavy grey clouds. "It's snowing!" He exclaimed.

"That's not snow, Potter…" Snape said softly. "That is the ashes from the fire pits…"

Harry turned to Snape, "You mean it's…?"

"Human ashes, yes."

Harry felt disgusted as he watched the flakes fall steadily, it did look like snow but now he was looking closely he could see that rather than white, the flakes were grey. "I'll defeat him." He muttered, his breath misting the glass. "I…I saw what they did to her, my mother, that is."

He heard Snape shifting behind him. "Do not tell your father what you saw." He whispered, his voice tight as if he were forcing away a painful emotion.

"No. He's better off not knowing." Harry replied blankly.

"Are you going to explain to me what you're doing? How do you intend to destroy the Dark lord? You're not much older than I am and I for one do not have half his power."

Harry sighed and closed his eyes. "A long time ago Lord Voldemort played with magic no one is supposed to play with, he discovered the only known way to make oneself as immortal as one can…He split his soul." Harry ignored the sharp intake of breath from his companion. "He killed his own father and made the first Horcrux, placing a piece of his shattered soul inside an object he deemed worthy…" He lifted up his hand which held the ring. "But he didn't do it just once, no, he ripped his soul apart several times. Each time he became less and less human until he is what he is today. I am hunting down each of these Horcrux's with the intent of destroying them, if they're damaged beyond repair the soul inside will die too. Then…"

"Then you go after the piece that is still inside his body." Snape muttered, his voice low. "I see, and how do you, a mere child in comparison to him, intend on taking him down?"

Harry smiled and chuckled quietly. "Well, last time I did it I died…this time, who knows? I'll deal with that when the time comes. For now, I am only after three more pieces of his soul."

"What could they be?"

"Well, there's a cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff…"

"The Hogwarts Founder?"

"Yeah, he has an attachment to Hogwarts. He was…well, he was like me. His mother died giving birth to him, his father abandoned him long before. He was brought up in a muggle orphanage where he became something…I don't know…bitter? But anyway, it was only the beginning, eventually he grew up and instead of becoming a normal person he became a monster." Harry stared out across the dark world as he slowly turned the ring around on his palm. "The weird thing is, is that I could so easily have become like him. I could have grown up to hate Muggle's, to want to punish them all for what happened to me at the Dursley's but I…I didn't. I don't hate them. I'm not even sure if I really hate the Dursley's…I mean, I don't like them, but I don't hate them either. Isn't that strange?" He smiled and stared down at the golden ring in his hand, it glinted innocently at him.

"The Dursley's? Who are they?"

"My mum's sister and her husband and their son."

"You were given into the care of that vile woman?!" Snape hissed and Harry smiled to himself.

"Yeah, she wasn't the most loving person in the world. Anyway, that's neither here nor there now…I haven't seen the Dursley's since I was seventeen. The other Horcrux's are a diary that should be in the hands of Lucius Malfoy and Raveclaw's Diadem, which is at Hogwarts."

"Lucius Malfoy?" Snape said thoughtfully. "I think I may have seen something like that, a small innocuous book?"

"Yes." Harry turned and stared at Snape hopefully.

"I may be able to get hold of it, if you allow me to leave you for a while."

"Brilliant!" Harry grinned.

"No, I am not doing this for you, nor am I doing it for the Wizarding world…"

"I understand, Severus."

"It's Snape." The man hissed and glared at him. "Whatever else you might be, you are still a Potter and that does not give you any right to be ordering me around, do you understand?"

"Yes." Harry replied, managing to stifle his smirk.

"Then I will see what can be done." Without another word he was gone from the house in a swirl of black.

~XXX~

"Hogwarts?!" James gazed at Harry with wide eyes. "It's impossible."

"Why?"

"Well, because the Death Eater's have turned it into an elite training academy, everyone knows it's their main base of operations now. You'd have to be completely stupid to try and infiltrate it."

"They said that about Gringotts." Harry replied. "They said no one can steal anything, well, I did. I lived to tell the tale."

"Yes but from what you've told us, Harry, you had the help of a dragon." Sirius said slowly. "It'd be insanity to get you in there…it's full of Dementors for one thing and then you have all these layers of enchantments! It's as well guarded as Azkaban used to be."

"You escaped Azkaban in my universe, Sirius." Harry said with a small, challenging smile. "I'm sure you could do it in this one."

James' eyes flicked from Sirius to Harry and back again, he frowned. Sirius looked as though the idea was beginning to appeal to him. "No. I'm putting my foot down! There has to be some other way."

"James, I think they're speaking the only sense we're going to hear in this ridiculous plan." Remus spoke up after a long time in silence, he put a hand on James' wrist lightly and leaned forward. "What choice do we have?"

James bit back a retort, it would have been childish to say that he didn't want them to die. "A-Alright…I suppose it's our only option."

"Great! Storming Hogwarts and thwarting Dementors, what better way is there to spend a Sunday afternoon?" Sirius said with a grin and a manic gleam in his eyes.

Remus began by withdrawing a piece of old and battered parchment, he ran his hand over it with a fond, nostalgic smile. James gaped in surprise. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It's our map." Remus said with a nod as he spread it out on the table to its fullest extent. "I found it in Filch's office on our last day, I was in there handing in some reports for him to see and it was just lying there on the desk."

"I lost that on purpose!" James said and shook his head. "I wanted it found by some mischievous student and used for nefarious purposes!"

"At least one of us retained their common sense, in the wrong hands this could be a weapon. You know what we went through making it, you know what it cost us-" Remus' eyes slid to Sirius who was elbowing him urgently and shaking his head. "Anyway, be that as it may, it's back with us now where it belongs. It will give us a good idea of what's going on inside the walls but not any idea of how well it's protected."

"For that we'll have to brave Hogsmeade." Sirius said with a grimace. "You reckon Aberforth is still in that old pub of his? I kind of assumed he'd grown roots and never leave. He might shelter us."

James considered with a frown. "It's as good a chance as any…despite his dislike of us."

"What did you do to him?" Harry asked curiously, momentarily forgetting about his questions about the map.

"Ah…well…" Remus looked guiltily down at his hands.

Sirius and James exchanged glowing glances and giggled like children. "He has a certain…fondness for his goat." James began slowly.

"He's called it Anathema, when the Order was newly made James, Peter, Remus and I went down to his pub and got really drunk…"

"Ah, his mead in those days…I swear it was brewed well over the legal alcohol limit." James grinned nostalgically.

"Well, anyway, we were drunk and we ended up causing a lot of trouble by putting an engorgement Charm on his Goat, she got so big she took up the whole living room…" Sirius giggled. "Then he got furious and threw us out, a little while later we have the Ministry at our doors to hand us court summons…Luckily we got off with a warning and a fine for being drunk and disorderly."

Harry grinned. "In my universe it's Aberforth who gets sent to Azkaban for experimental charms on a Goat…" He frowned for a moment. "I never did get to ask Dumbledore what that meant." The Marauder's exchanged glances before bursting into hysterics. "What?! What did I say? C'mon, tell me!"

Sirius merely shook his head. "We can't, it's best you don't know, it'd taint our meeting with him…it's a sensitive subject."

Harry frowned. "Alright, fine. Just promise to tell me when we get out of there."

The mood darkened slightly, and they began to look grave. "If we survive." James said slowly.


	13. Chapter 13

_AN: Hi, sorry this took way too long to get out! I had a bit of trouble with my inspiration over this chapter and it took me ages to work through it. I hope the result is satisfactory. Please enjoy and loving your comments so far, they make me so happy!_

**Chapter Twelve**

_Too late to save myself from falling  
I took a chance and changed your way of life  
But you misread my meaning when I met you  
Closed the door and left me blinded by the light_

_Elton John, __Don't let the sun go down on me._

Hogsmeade was like a different place, Harry could hardly believe that once it had been a happy village full of all kinds of magical creatures. Now, it was a ghost town. He pulled his hood further over his eyes as he followed the tall figures of his father and friends to the other end of the village, the sky overhead was grey and featureless, the Three Broomsticks was empty with its door hanging off of its hinges and a chill wind picked up and blew dust into his eyes.

The group soon reached the Hogs Head pub, its creaky sign was missing and the door was ajar and creaking in the wind. James stared at it for a while before pushing it open, there was a tell tale scorch mark upon the front door that made his heart fill with dread. The party stepped into the bar and walked slowly to the back where they could enter the private living quarters. It was dusty and dim, Harry could taste the cloying scent of decay on his tongue. Sirius had his wand out as he brought up the rear, his eyes darted around and James opened the door that led to the private parts of the Inn. "I don't think he's here anymore." He whispered, his voice sounded harsh and bitter as he spoke but he seemed determined to see it through, all of them recognised the signs of a rather large fight. The tables and chairs were scattered every which way, the curtains had been torn down and the windows shattered. They searched the whole place but there was no sign of any other living being. "It's true then…he's gone." James muttered and slumped into a nearby sofa, dust puffed up around him in a choking cloud and made him cough.

"Poor bloke, I liked him." Sirius muttered as he pushed his hands into his pockets.

"How are we supposed to get into the castle now?" Remus sighed and he allowed his eyes to roam the room, they landed upon Harry who was staring up at a painting above the fireplace. "Harry?"

Harry ignored him, he reached up and wiped off layers of grime from the portrait to reveal a very young blond girl with vacant eyes. She smiled at them all vaguely. "Ariana, can you help us? We need to get into Hogwarts." Sirius raised an eyebrow and James shrugged, Remus watched in fascination as the girl began to walk away from them, as if she was going down a tunnel. After a moment she paused and looked back at them, she smiled and beckoned. Harry grinned and hoisted himself up onto the mantel piece. "Come on, she wants us to follow." He called to the others and stepped into what appeared to be a tunnel hidden behind the painting.

They followed the tunnel until it came out in a strange room, none of the marauders remembered such a room within Hogwarts before but Harry refused to answer questions as torches were lit along the walls, the ceiling was high and vaulted like that of a church and it was eerily silent. "Right…if I'm going to find the Diadem I'm going to need everyone to go out into the hall…" Harry pointed to the door leading into the castle. "Be careful and stay hidden under the invisibility cloak." He watched them follow his instructions reluctantly, he followed under his own cloak. They stepped into the silent hall way and the door disappeared.

"Where did it go?" Sirius hissed in surprise.

"Sh!" Harry replied sharply. The seventh floor hall was silent. The atmosphere was heavy and brooding as if with anticipation, he swallowed his nerves and began walking up and down before the blank stretch of wall. _I need the place where all things are hidden…I need the place where all things are hidden…I need the place where all things are hidden… _On his last pass he heard a sharp intake of breath and knew he had been successful, he turned to find a large, familiar door awaiting him. "Follow me, quickly!" He muttered and they went back inside the room, Harry let the cloak fall as he stared up at the mountains of objects. The cathedral like windows allowed thin beams of moonlight to filter down through moats of dust to highlight the piles. He managed to get his bearings and allowed memories of his last visit to the place re-surface. It was easy to guide them all through the seemingly endless maze until he found the spot where the vanishing cabinet had been in his own time, of course it was absent now. He found the ugly troll statue and eventually, after rummaging through the mish mash of objects upon the table he found it. A simple, thin circlet made of tarnished silver, written along the edges were the words: _Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure._

"Is that it?!" James exclaimed, his tone was one of mixed excitement and disappointment. "It looks so…plain."

"This is it. This is Ravenclaw's Diadem." Harry breathed and stuffed it securely in his pocket, he turned on his companions and eyed them all carefully. "Now…while I'm here I need to get hold of the only thing that can destroy a Horcrux…" He whispered and he watched Sirius go pale.

"You'll be killed!" James muttered.

"Maybe but what good is having the Horcrux's with no way to destroy them? We'll fail if we don't try to kill the Basilisk! I have to do it…none of you can."

"Why not?" Remus asked. "We've faced Death Eaters and other dangerous creatures before…why can't we do it for you?"

"B-Because…well…" Harry sighed softly. "To enter the chamber of secrets you need to be able to speak parseltongue…"

There was a silence that Harry had not expected, he gazed at each of his companions in turn, his eyes lingering on Sirius' for longest. "Why?" James asked suddenly. "Why can you speak to snakes?!"

"When Voldemort tried to kill me he put a piece of his soul inside me, he gave me some of his own power…and that included his ability to talk to snakes."

Sirius grimaced. "Well, if that's it then what choice do we have? Harry has to go but he doesn't have to go alone." He straightened and turned in a full circle, Harry frowned as he rummaged in a nearby pile. Finally he exclaimed happily and turned back to the group with a grin and brandishing a mirror. "If we have these then we'll only be at risk of turning to stone, we won't be killed instantly."

"Excellent Padfoot!" James said and began searching for another mirror, Remus followed suit.

When they were all kitted out with hand held mirrors or shards of reflective glass, they set off again beneath the cloaks.

XXX

"So far we have managed to keep the rogue Death Eater's at bay, for now." Kingsley said slowly. "I want you and Miss Granger to remain hidden, if you were to be discovered you will be killed as a way of attempting to bring Harry Potter out of hiding, do you understand?"

"Unfortunately yeah, I do." Ron sighed and ran fingers through his hair. "Do you think he'll come back?"

Kingsley sighed. "If he is given the choice? I can't say…you knew him better than I."

Ron smiled a little. "You know what? If he's given the choice…I don't reckon he will come back."

That evening Ron lay beside Hermione, they had gone to the Burrow as they all felt safer there. His parents had been more than happy to have him back and he was now sharing his old room with his girlfriend. He wrapped an arm around her waist and buried his nose in the back of her neck, she sighed and took his hand in her own, silently their fingers entwined. "Stop thinking and go to sleep, Ron…We can worry some more in the morning." She muttered, Ron kissed the spot between her shoulder blades and let out a soft breath.

"He's going to be ok…he has to be."

"Yes, he will be."

XXX

The hissing noise coming from Harry's mouth set them all on edge, Sirius shifted uncomfortably as the sink began to move. It was amazing how, all through their schooling, they had been so close to a real life monster and had never even known. James watched a hole open up in the floor to reveal a tunnel. Harry turned to look at them, his eyes glittered in the shaky lights of their wands. "I'll go first…Its not far." He smiled before leaping into the hole.

Sirius licked his lips and glanced over his shoulder. "Remus, get down there…" He gave his friend a little push and watched as he too disappeared into the gaping cavern, James clasped his shoulder.

"See you at the bottom, Padfoot." He grinned and leapt.

Sirius paused, cocking his head to one side and listening intently. He was certain that there was supposed to be a ghost in the bathroom, perhaps they had driven her out at some point. Finally he shook off his nervousness and climbed into the hole.

Harry stood a little way off from the exit of the tunnel, he was surrounded by the light from his wand as he stared down the wide tunnel opening before him and lost himself in memories. Softly, like a whisper from the past, he heard a voice echoing in the caverns of his mind; _Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it… _"And I need all the help I can get, Dumbledore…" He whispered to himself as he lifted his wand high over his head so the light was thrown further afield. "What the hell am I doing?" He heard his father and friends fall out of the tunnel-slide and land in a heap on the pile of bones at its foot. With a deep breath he turned around and faced them. "Let's go." He said firmly and they stood and followed him down the tunnel, darkness receded from them as they walked, each foot step echoed sharply on the walls.

"We'll be heard!" Remus whispered.

"No, the snake won't come until its called…I…I have a plan but I'm not sure if it's going to work." Harry said and shook his head. "It could be suicide…but it's all we have."

"Well, let's get it over and done with then, shall we?" Sirius straightened out his robes and followed Harry confidently. "We can't let all our hopes die in this dingy place, I'd rather be torn apart by giant ants than die at the feet of Salazar Slytherin."

"Eloquent…shall we put that on your grave, Sirius?" Remus replied drily. "Here lies Sirius Orion Black; Did _not_ die at the feet of Salazar Slytherin."

"Well, if I'm eaten by a dirty great snake you'd have to say that I did…" Sirius muttered absently.

"If you die down here, you can pretty much guarantee we're not going to be far behind." James said softly. "Our bones would rot here and not even Voldemort himself would be any wiser…"

"Well, aren't you Mr. Brightside this evening, Potter." Sirius mumbled sarcastically, James elbowed him in his side and he stumbled a little.

They came to a halt before a door, on it were two entwined serpents with life-like glowing red eyes. Harry once again spoke to it in that eerie hissing language and they snakes parted. Before them a great hall appeared in the gloom, Harry lifted his wand and shot a bright orb of shimmering light so that it hovered by the ceiling. They stepped inside and walked down a path way lined by serpentine pillars, it felt as if their eyes were following each movement. Ahead stood a massive statue of a man with a long beard and stern expression, Sirius halted and found himself staring up at Salazar Slytherin's visage. "It's huge!" He exclaimed in a soft whisper that echoed back at them as if there were many Sirius' all speaking at once.

Harry stared up at the statue, he squinted slightly and tried to recall the words Tom Riddle had used when he was twelve. "I'm going to call out the basilisk…when it comes cover your eyes and get back as far as possible. I…I'm not sure if this will work as its only supposed to follow the commands of its master…"

The three friends shuffled back yet held onto their wands as tightly as possible. "Alright Harry, do what you've got to do." James muttered. He felt both Remus and Sirius tensing at his side as he closed his eyes.

Sirius once again heard that sibilant hissing issuing from Harry's mouth, it seemed almost a sin that those kissable lips could form such evil sounding words, and yet he could feel it stir heat in his body, like a fire fanned by wind it spread through his body until he was almost tempted to open his eyes. There was a rumble coming from deep inside the chamber, Sirius' eyes clenched tightly and he gritted his teeth as the floor beneath him trembled. A loud groaning came from the statue far above their heads, he heard Harry gasp softly and then a heavy thud as something hit the floor. Sirius cracked an eye open, he couldn't help himself, the temptation to gaze upon Slytherin's legendary monster was overwhelming. The snake was humungous, its long emerald green body was coiled tightly around itself as it lifted its head and looked down at the boy, Sirius noted that it had its own eyes shut. Harry was talking to it rapidly, Sirius risked opening his eyes fully and the sight took his breath away. Harry looked so small in comparison the beast, his face turned upwards towards it and his wand hanging by his side. His voice sang with the hypnotic tones of Parseltongue and Sirius found himself feeling dizzy, a hand gripped his shoulder but he couldn't look away. Harry looked small but he radiated power, a power he had only glimpsed once before…a power he had seen in a man he had sworn he would kill. He took an involuntary step forward but James grabbed him and yanked him backwards again, he stumbled and almost fell as the spell was broken. The serpent hissed its agitation and its massive head swung in their direction.

"SHUT YOUR EYES!" Harry's voice echoed with command and Sirius shut them just in time. The snake hissed again and Harry answered, the parley seemed to go on forever until finally Harry sighed. "It's going to allow me to take a fang…" He whispered, "Don't move a muscle until I tell you to."

James nodded but kept his hand firmly on Sirius' shoulder. There was the sound of sliding scales and the noise of a struggle, a thump and a low hiss before once again there was the sound of something huge and heavy gliding upwards, away from them.

"It's fine, I've sent it back to sleep." Harry gasped.

"Why didn't you kill it?" Remus asked as he opened his eyes and blinked in the light.

"I…Well…I'm not quite sure but after speaking to it she seemed pretty reasonable to me…" Harry flushed a little but met each of their gazes. "I've ordered it back to sleep, it won't harm anyone unless someone commands it to and there's only myself and Lord Voldemort who can speak to it."

James shrugged. "Very well then, we have the fang…where are the Horcuxes?"

Sirius dipped one hand into his pocket and withdrew the ring and the locket, Harry took out the diadem. They placed them on the floor where they lay glittering innocently. He knelt and rolled the ring on its side for a moment with his head cocked to one side. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me again where the Ressurection Stone is hidden?"

"I-" Harry went a little pale as he saw Sirius' fingers close around the ring.

"Hmm, I thought there was something strange about the way you looked at it." He smirked and took out a tiny little metal tool, slowly he prized the claws that held the black stone in place open and it dropped out onto his palm.

Harry lunged for it but Sirius was too quick, he dodged out of the way and rolled to his feet. "Sirius! There isn't time for this! We have to destroy it!"

"Why do we have to destroy the stone as well?" Sirius countered as Harry lunged again, he grabbed the boy's wrist with his free hand and dragged him close so their chests were pressed against each other. "Why shouldn't we have the Deathly Hallows as well? Voldemort's got immortality…we need something as well!"

"He's not Immortal! Put it back in the ring and let us get rid of it all! It's bad news, you can't leave a single Horcrux intact!"

"We have the cloak, we have the stone…where's the Elder wand?" Sirius' grip tightened on Harry's wrist, his eyes glittered with a dangerous lust. "If we just had that we'd be unbeatable! Don't you understand yet? We need to destroy him, we have to! I WILL GET MY REVENGE!"

"Sirius, listen to him…he's speaking sense." Remus said and reached for his friend, Sirius shrugged him off, his eyes never leaving Harry's.

James stood slowly, he pushed his glasses further onto his nose before fixing his eyes onto his best friend. "Padfoot, stop!" He commanded in a low voice. "Control yourself, you're better than this."

Sirius licked his lips, for a moment it looked as if he would ignore James in the same way he had ignored Remus before, with dream like slowness, he opened his hand and the stone slipped free. "Take it then." He growled, he stared into Harry's eyes for an intense moment before releasing him and stepping backwards. "Destroy it…" He turned his back and folded his arms across his broad chest.

"Sirius, what on earth has got into you?" Remus whispered, he stared at Sirius' back with worried eyes.

"It's the Horcrux's…they make people act strangely." Harry replied as he recovered from the shock of being so close to Sirius, he tugged on his robes absently and ordered his thoughts. "Sirius, come here." Sirius looked at him over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Harry held out the fang to him. "It has to be you." He said quietly. "You need to destroy one of the Horcrux's." Sirius snatched the fang off of him and fell to his knees before the small pile of valuables, he stared at them for a moment before taking the ring and the stone and placing them before him. "It's going to put up a fight, the locket did when Ron destroyed it. Be careful, they use your fear against you…don't let him into your head."

Sirius stared down at the stone as he lifted the fang above his head, he could feel the eyes of his friends on his back but Harry's eyes seemed burn a hole right into his soul. His hand wavered a little as flashes of memory sent pain lancing into his heart, his face twisted as he re-lived the death of his lover. He saw blood gushing from his body, the way he twitched and screamed, the terrible laughter of his cousin…and then almost as if someone was speaking directly into his ear he heard a soft, hissing voice; _"You could have been so, so much more than you are Sirius…You could have saved your lovers life, you could have been so great. You, the child first born but least loved, the child who was scorned and mocked for being different, the one who only wanted to stand out from the crowd. If you had only taken what was offered that night, if you had only bowed your head you could have prevented his death. Murderer. Traitor. Betrayer of the pure blood that courses through your veins! Pathetic child, always so lost, always so alone. You will never find love, you will never be anything but a filthy coward! What would your friends think if they learned the truth? What would Harry think if he knew what really happened that night when your cousin came knocking? You swore to protect him and you failed…you swore you would never betray him and yet you did…did those night time confessions mean nothing to you? Pathetic. Disgusting. You are no better than your father!" _Sirius screamed suddenly as memories he had long since hidden spewed forth like a venomous fountain, he fell backwards and the fang fell from limp fingers as he covered his face and curled into a ball. "My fault. My fault. A-All my fault. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. F-Forgive me! Forgive me! I'm…I'm not my father! I d-didn't…I didn't want her to be hurt! I-I had no choice! THEY MADE ME DO IT!"

"Sirius!" Harry fell to his knees and rolled Sirius onto his back, they had all heard the words issuing from the ring like a black miasma as it hissed and whispered about long hidden secrets. Sirius was trembling like a child but when Harry's hand touched his arm he sat bolt upright, his chest heaved and he grabbed the fang from the floor and clenched his fingers around it.

"I'll fucking kill you!" He screamed and lunged at the ring, the fang pierced it, stone and all. There was a high scream that seemed to shake the very stone around them and Harry stared at the fury written across Sirius' face. The sight was truly terrifying. Sirius raised the fang again and it went straight through the metal as if it were butter. "DIE! DIE YOU BASTARD! EVERYTHING IS YORU FAULT! YOU AND MY FUCKING SHIT EXCUSE FOR A FATHER! DIE AND ROT IN HELL!"

Finally James grabbed Sirius and pulled him away, he yanked him into a rough embrace and Sirius sagged against him panting rapidly as he tried to control the flow of fury. "Siri, it's alright now, it's over…y-you killed it."

Remus knelt at his side and put a hand on his shoulder, Sirius buried his head in James' chest and gripped his robes so tightly his knuckles were white. "It's over now, its in the past…they can't hurt you anymore."

"They can…they can and they do…every night I dream of them, Remus. I hear their laughter as I led her into the basement…I can hear her screams as he…as he raped her…Christ, she was supposed to be my first girlfriend!" Harry tried his best not to listen or embarrass Sirius by staring too much but it was hard not to hear the confession as it came spilling from his lips. "My father asked me to bring her round and I wanted to, she was really sweet and I thought at the time being girlfriend and boyfriend meant holding hands and playing hide and seek…I-I thought she was coming round for tea…s-she was my best friend…my only friend…"

"It's over…you killed it." James muttered, pushing a hand into his friend's hair and dragging his head up so their eyes met. "None of it was your fault, Sirius. You're not alone, not anymore." Sirius nodded slowly, he seemed to pull himself together with a deep, shuddering breath as he forced himself upright.

"Yeah, you're right prongs…what am I doing, acting like a pathetic child?" He smiled shakily at them. "Sorry, I had you all worried there."

"That you did, Pads." James said and stood up, he brushed dirt from his knees before walking over and picking up the fang again. "What do I get to destroy?" He said with a tense grin.

END NOTE: If you're wondering why I did not have them kill the Basilisk, well, for starters I wanted to avoid repeating the scene from the chamber of secrets and this was the only way I could think of getting around that…and secondly I have a plan for future chapters so bear with me. Action will be coming soon I promise! I know, the Horcrux hunt seems so easy in this but trust me its going to get harder as time goes on. Hope you enjoyed.


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